The Golden Giants Tour
by walkingwithgiants
Summary: "Three months," he kept going in his deep voice. "You'll probably never be able to do this again." Three months, three continents, sweaty nights, an uncomfortable bed, ten men, a girl, and a bus. Bella Swan should have known better than to say yes.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone ask, "Mariana, what are you doing starting another story?" I'm out of my mind and one night, I just started writing this. My other work is still on hold at the moment (not for lack of trying but it just hasn't been coming to me). So, taa-daaa!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this shiznit is mine.

* * *

><p>The last phone conversation that changed my life started with the words, "Bella, we need to talk."<p>

Five minutes later, I was apparently A) not in a relationship anymore, B) homeless, and C) pathetic. Although the whole "pathetic" part was only known by me. And my best friend. And my parents. And my brother. Oh fuck, who am I kidding? Everyone knew I was pathetic when I cried my eyes out for a week after my breakup and watched _The Notebook_ each night for a month.

So when my brother—who only called me twice a month and was drunk each and every single time he did it—called me and started his conversation with "_Bella_," in a sing-song voice, I knew something was up. And when he asked me "_Do you have time to talk?"_ in a completely sober tone, I was kind of expecting the apocalypse. Or at least, him asking for one of my major organs.

I shouldn't have listened to his offer. I should've known better. But Emmett was my weakness in life. And the asshole knew it.

I couldn't count the number of times he'd wrangled me in to doing something for him that I would never, ever do for anyone else. Like when I used to clean up his puke after he'd drank too much. Or when I had to eat ramen noodles for a whole month because I had to bail him out of jail and he never paid me back. I loved my brother even though he was a restless bastard.

"_We just had to let Demetri go," _he explained in that deep, breathless voice that so many women panted over. _"Come with us. Mom said you weren't doing anything this summer, so I know you don't have anything better to do—"_

Ummm…. I didn't have have anything better to do but when someone else said it, it pissed me off.

Annoyance lit up in my gut. "I've been applying for jobs, thank you very much."

"_Aww B, you've got the rest of your life to work. Come with us. It'll be fun," _he insisted in that borderline whiney voice that he used to get me to do his bidding.

He had a point, I knew it, but I also knew how manipulative Emmett was. He was almost as manipulative as he was full of shit—and he was full of_ a lot_ of shit. "Fun? Hanging out with you on a bus is fun?"

Emmett groaned. "_We're going to Australia and Europe. You'll make ten percent of all our sales plus tips."_

Ten percent? I could remember how much they made two years ago when I'd last sold merch for them. It'd been fifteen hundred dollars that night. Ten percent of that was a hundred and fifty bucks for six hours of work? Six days a week? And now they were making even more money? The asshole knew that I'd wanted to go to Europe forever, too.

Looking around my childhood bedroom with its purple walls and band posters plastered all over it, I sighed into the receiver. If I stayed, I ran the risk of looking for a job for God knows how long. I'd have to live with my parents until I found another roommate and face the Spanish inquisition each time I left the house. But if I went with Emmett, I knew it'd be sweaty nights, an uncomfortable bed, and dealing with three imbeciles.

Work.

Home.

Bus.

Travel.

Sweat.

Sweat.

"_C'mon B, you're the only person I trust, and I miss you,"_ he continued, sincerity stringing his words together.

"I don't know—"

"_Three months,"_ he kept going in his deep voice. "_You'll probably never be able to do this again."_

The reality of his words sunk in. I was single, practically homeless, and jobless. Soon there would be bills and work, and just life in general that would tie me down. Oh God. I was going to puke.

"_Bella."_

The one and only picture that I had of my ex in the corner of the bedroom seemed to wink at me, calling me a pussy at the same time. It was the collection of posters right above the group picture that drew my eyes away from that photo. Posters I'd collected over the years of Emmett and his band on different tours, year after year.

Was I seriously going to go on tour with my borderline alcoholic brother for three fucking months, all so that I could avoid the inevitable?

"Yes."

* * *

><p>Twitter me: marianazapata_<p>

Blog me: marianazapatawrites (dot) blogspot (dot) com

Also, I'm participating in the Pop the Question contest. I've had two people correctly guess which story is mine ;) So read and vote for your favorites! www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/3680273/Pop_the_Question


	2. Chapter 2

Hello my lovelies. Thanks for joining the TGGT party. "Welcome" to all my new readers and "I love you" to my warriors that have stuck with me through all of my other madness. Anyway, here's another update. I've written enough in advance to where I have some freedom with posting (woo-hoo). Just as a warning: this is going to be more along the lines of my ILMN days, which means nonsense and nonsense on top of it. My favorite. No beta ever. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but everything else is mine.

* * *

><p>Six hours later, my flight from Seattle to San Francisco was landing in the terminal, and I was trying to catch a cab to make it to the venue where the Three Stooges—what I called Emmett and his idiot band mates— were playing at.<p>

It seemed so weird to me that just a few hours before I'd been laying down on the sofa watching television and eating chips. In the span of a twenty minute conversation with my brother, he'd bought me the first plane ticket to San Fran he could get and ordered me to start packing.

It was a testament to my lack of shit-giving that I was able to pack in about an hour. I was pretty much flying blind as I threw clothes into my suitcase. My wardrobe consisted of a handful of shorts, jeans, t-shirts, and a small collection of tank tops and muscle shirts. A bathing suit, underwear, bras, and two dresses evened out my suitcase. I figured I could buy whatever else I needed. Because there was bound to be something I forgot. I just knew it.

Mom and Dad were all too excited to have me tag along with Emmett. I hated to think _why _they were so happy to have me out of the house. I also think they secretly hoped I'd keep an eye on their beloved wild child, but everyone knew there was no controlling Emmett Swan. He'd been born with hell in his veins.

I mentally braced myself for the insanity that was Emmett, Jake, and Riley. Jake and Riley had been in my life for as long as I could remember. They were about five years older than me, closer to thirty than to twenty like I was—I was being liberal with the age range at twenty-four. Even though I hadn't gotten to see them much over the last couple of years, I cared for them and tried to beat back the dread in my stomach at being the only girl traveling with them.

Growing up, I'd been "Bella Smella." Well, it should be said that I'd been Bella Smella even up until the last time I saw them. Except now they weren't pulling on my ponytail and doing things to intentionally piss me off. Now, they just liked to tease me because I gave them as good as I got—which sounds totally perverted but it really isn't.

I was wringing my hands on the cab ride to The Fillmore, hoping to God that my deodorant would hold up through the rest of the night. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was after seven. Emmett had told me that they didn't play until nine. When the cabbie dropped me off at the end of the block, I called my jackass of a brother.

"Are you here?" he answered on the second ring.

"I am," I laughed, pulling my suitcase after me while I walked in the direction of the huge bus parked on the street.

Eyeing the bus, I couldn't help but remember Old Bessie, their old van. In the past, on the handful of tours I'd gone on, we'd stuffed ourselves into their Chevy fifteen-passenger van and their cargo trailer. With peeling paint, duck taped sections, and ghetto-rigged doors, you couldn't help but love Old Bessie. But now that The Red Mile was making money, Bessie had been retired.

"Smella!" a voice that haunted me for years hollered from the other side of the bus.

I groaned but smiled, excited to see my brother for the first time in what seemed like forever. His huge shoulders and gigantic head popped out from around the corner of the bus. With hair the same shade of brown as mine except it was curlier, equally dark eyes, and the same peachy colored skin, Emmett grinned like he'd just found out Sam Adams was endorsing him.

"I'm so glad you're here," he said, squeezing those tree-trunk sized arms around me.

Ever since he'd been in high school, I'd sworn he did steroids but I never found any on him no matter how hard I looked. Em was built with a tall, almost pillowy-muscle build. I used to ask him when he was making his WWE debut but then he'd ask me when I was going to become the newest ProActiv spokesperson. Asshole.

"Emmeline," I said, calling my brother by the nickname I'd bestowed upon him at the age of four.

He held me against him another minute before pulling away, resting a palm on each shoulder. "When was the last time I saw you?" he asked, eyeing me carefully.

I frowned before slapping him with the back of my hand on his stomach. "Six months ago, doucher." He winced and grabbed my hand.

"Huh," he muttered simply. "You're my favorite sister," he offered with a wild smile.

"I'm your only sister."

Emmett snorted, another one of the traits we shared except according to our mom, his was cute where mine was not. "You'd be my favorite even if I had another."

Rolling my eyes, I wrapped my arms around his middle to hug him again. "Whatever."

He squeezed me back a moment longer, and then kissed my cheek before pulling away. "Well, c'mon. I need to get you in the bus, and then take you over to the merch booth before we start. I need to warm up."

Pulling me in the direction of the bus, Em told me about what happened with Demetri. He'd been their merch guy for the last two years and according to Jake, they'd started missing money out of their lock box. That morning, Riley had found that they were missing more than a thousand dollars. According to the merch guy for the other band, he'd seen Demetri slipping bills into his laptop case. What a fucking moron. So, they dropped him off at the airport and bid him adieu. I could only imagine how hard it was for Em not to want to beat his ass.

Emmett stopped in front of the bus and yanked the huge, heavy metal door open. He motioned for me to leave my suitcase outside and pulled me into the multi-colored blue and gray bus.

"I sort of forgot to tell you that we're sharing a bus with the other band," he said in a quick sentence, walking up the short steps in.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, really not caring too much if we were going to be sharing fifty feet of moving vehicle. I'd survived with them in the past in fifteen feet, fifty wouldn't be a problem. I think.

He pulled aside a heavy cream curtain that separated the driver's area from the living area. "Yeah. We've been sharing since gas prices started making my ass bleed."

"Are you sure the ass bleeding isn't from your lube-less butt action?" I laughed, poking my finger into his back.

Emmett flicked me off as he walked into the living area, which consisted of a long, narrow couch on each side. "I'm going to fart on your pillow and hope you get pink eye."

I couldn't help but laugh. "That's awful."

Turning around to smile at me in that same sneaky way he'd done my entire life, Emmett winked, which was never a good thing. Emmett winking was just a warning of trouble to come. "Oh, my baby Bella, I'm gonna show you awful."

* * *

><p>Twitter me: marianazapata_<p>

Blog me: marianazapatawrites(dot)blogspot(dot)com


	3. Chapter 3

My sweet readers, HELLO! Thank you all for your awesome words and reviews, I love them :) Here's another chapter. I figure why not pop them out since I have them written in advance, right? No beta ever.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but everything is mine besides their names.

* * *

><p>"Holy shit! Is that my future wife?"<p>

I groaned, recognizing the voice that had been tainting my life for almost a decade. Turning around to look in Riley's direction, I didn't even need to force the smile on my face. More handsome than any jerk should ever be, Riley grinned as we walked over in our direction. I was standing outside the bus, watching as Em stashed my suitcase into the lower outside compartment of my home for the next five weeks.

Riley had his long, tattooed arms outstretched, smiling like the demented fool he was. "Come here, my bride."

I snorted and shook my head, walking toward him. "Hey."

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders the first moment he was close enough. Even though we'd known each other since right around the time I started wearing training bras, Riley had been telling me we were going to get married one day for years. Emmett said it would be a cold day in hell before he ever let that happen, and I couldn't help but agree. When you know the worst things about the people you care about and still loved them anyway, it sometimes turned into a brotherly-type of affection. At least that was the case with this guy. Not that it stopped me from thinking Riley was hot.

Because he was.

With dark blue eyes and his borderline emo hair, Riley was the looker in the band, my mom insisted it was Emmett but, yeah, no. Riley was tall, just a little muscular, and had cute dimples. He'd also slept with more women than I could count to, smoked weed once a day, and showered only when he felt like it—which wasn't often enough.

And today was my lucky day because by the way he smelled, he'd taken a shower recently. Thank you, Jesus.

"I almost shat my pants when I heard you were coming on tour with us," he murmured against my hair. Squeezing me to him again, he pulled on my ponytail.

"According to Em, I didn't have anything better to do this summer," I laughed but it was forced. An image of my ex's head flashed through my brain, making me want to pull a Linda Blair a la The Exorcist and projectile vomit all over him.

Riley frowned. "I forgot about you and that cock-lick. I'll beat his ass when we go by Seattle. Just remind me."

"Deal." I smiled at him and shrugged, trying to get away from the topic of me and the three years of my life I'd wasted. Even though almost four months had passed since we'd broken up, I was still just a little bitter. Just a tiny bit. Almost microscopic.

The truth was, I would totally wish upon a shooting star that he'd get herpes one day soon. If I were on my period, I'd probably wish he began an intimate relationship with a man in jail. Just sayin'.

Luckily, Emmett yanked up on my belt loop a second later, distracting our conversation. "I put your shit up for you. Let's go sell some merch. Jake doesn't know how to count, so I'm scared he's been giving out the wrong change for the last hour."

I nodded, remembering the time I'd witnessed Jake trying to give a cashier change at the gas station. It'd been painful to say the least.

"I'll see you later, Smella," Ryan laughed, pulling on my ponytail one more time before turning to head toward the entrance to the bus.

Following after my brother, he led me through the back door and around the small back area by the stage toward the door that led out to the floor of the venue. As soon as we walked onto the floor, insanity ensued. I went to Emmett's shows each chance I got. Every time they hit Seattle or a close city, me, mom, and dad would drive out to see them. But this time… there were _so_ many people, the place looked packed. It wasn't that I didn't think they could draw a huge crowed, it was just rare that so many would show up hours before they played to see the local opening band.

Almost as if he could sense my surprise at the hundreds of people that were crammed into the venue so early in the night, he nudged me. "Crazy, huh?"

"Who's the other band on the tour?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder to follow him through the crowed.

People stared at Em as he made his way through the crowd, apologizing to each person he shouldered passed. It'd always seemed strange to me that people would get stars in their eyes when they saw him in person. Because, I mean, this was Emmeline. He wasn't anything special or better than any other person. His poop smelled just as bad, if not worse than anyone else's.

"The Golden Giants," he answered.

I wracked my brain for recognition of the name and only came up with a faint mention here and there in the past. The band had to have been well known if they were the headliners, but I still couldn't think of them at all. Not that it was unheard of with "underground bands." When a band didn't have mainstream success, they could still be popular and making money even if they were relatively unheard of. "No idea."

He shrugged his gigantic shoulders as we kept walking toward the back of the room. "You'll like them."

In no time, we were at the merch table where Jake looked like a deer caught in the headlights. A small group of people were surrounding him, half of them wanting to buy something and the other half wanting nothing more than to talk to the singer of The Red Mile. A blind person could tell how uncomfortable Jake was. As soon as he spotted Emmett, and then me hovering behind my tower of a brother, he looked like he sighed in relief.

A quick hug, an explanation of how much each shirt, poster, drink koozie, and CD cost, I faced the firing squad of people who wanted to buy something. Emmeline and Jake disappeared as quickly as they could to go warm up backstage. Even though I hadn't sold merch for them in years, it was like riding a bike. Especially knowing that I'd get paid depending how much sold, I may have yanked my tank top down a little more and smiled like a hussy at each guy.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

As soon as the line faded away, I turned to look in the direction of the table right next to mine. There was a large wall rack behind the table of t-shirts pinned to it, and the table was littered with stickers, CDs, and vinyl. I plopped down onto one of the large plastic bins behind me and looked at the blonde guy working behind the table. He looked younger than me and skinnier, too.

The moment that he got through with his line, he turned around to look at me and gave me a little smile. Worming his way through the plastic bins and boxes that separated us, he thrust out a hand.

"I'm James," he said, an eyebrow ring winking back at me.

"Hi, I'm Bella." I told him, shaking his hand.

He'd barely pulled his hand away when he smirked. "Umm..Jake taped a sign to your back earlier," he admitted, blushing.

I groaned and turned around to let him pull it off of me, not entirely surprised that he'd done it. Jake was the quiet one but he was still a moron. James handed me the Post-It note lined with the same clear packaging tape that was in one of the bins. Reading the note, I couldn't help but laugh at the idiot I'd known for so long.

_**Hi, my name is **__**SMELLA**_


	4. Chapter 4

You guys are the best. Yes you are. Here's another chapter as we chug along. Thank you all for your wonderful, sweet words. No beta ever.

Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine but the rest is, m'ladies.

* * *

><p>I've don't believe in love. Well, at least love at first sight.<p>

Well, except for the first time I set my eyes on Michael Fassbender in X-Men First Class, but that could be considered more lust than love. Whatever. I think that's as close as I'll ever get to it.

Either way, fifteen minutes after The Red Mile finished, and I screamed my throat raw with cheers for my brother behind the drum kit and Riley on guitar, I fell in love with the voice in the dark.

No joke.

The stage had been cleared off and a tech had scurried about, sound checking the equipment one last time. When the lights darkened, the crowd of about 1,100 people went fucking bananas. I felt like I was starring in _The Lion King_ facing a herd of animals and it was pretty scary in an exciting way. In the pitch black auditorium, a wispy voice began singing softly, making the fans shriek even louder.

With a flash of elaborate LED lights mounted on a panel in the back, the stage lit up like fireworks in July, illuminating the two guitar players, bass player, and drummer onstage. With another long, whisper of lyrics, it was over. In an emotional sense that is.

While Jake had a good, deep voice that was full and almost hoarse, the singer of _this_ band was completely opposite. His tone was slightly higher, breathy, and strong. I could only see the outline of a man fluttering across the stage with energy and a charisma that drove everyone—including me—to focus on the explosion of color, the melodic voice, and the catchy instrumentals.

It was love. Plain, easy, uncomplicated love.

Unfortunately for me, a ton of fans came up to buy merch during the set. Trying to hustle about and sell as quickly as possible, I kept an eye and an ear out for the singer's dynamic presence. He was so good. Well, they all were. During the quick glances when I got a chance to look up, the long, sinewy figure in what looked like black dress pants, a button down shirt, and tie moved and jumped in time with the music constantly. The next two hours blew by in a mix of music and selling. Watching my tip jar fill up with dollar bills kept me shooting sly smiles at all the people buying stuff even though I secretly wanted them out of my face so I could enjoy the band onstage.

During brief breaks between their set, the singer would talk to the crowd quickly, thanking them for their presence and support or he'd introduce the next song. It was a beautiful sort of insanity watching the band and the audience interact. It was easy then, between the smiles I'd share with the guy "next door"—James—and the screaming, ear-to-mouth chats I had with Emmett's fans, to forget about why I was going to spend the next few months of my life with all but three strangers.

Even in the chaos that ensued once the band finished their encore when the singer in his swanky, baritone voice thanking everyone for coming out, I relished it. The constant hustle to pull shirts out of my ass and make sure I marked down all the sales on the tally sheet correctly. Before I freaking knew it, the security in the venue were trying to usher the fans out while me and James tried to pack up our bins. Usually, the band would be out trying to load the trailer at the same time so I wasn't too sure who was going to come out and help me load the bins out.

James must have read my mind because he waved a hand from his spot ten feet away. "I'll go get the dolly," he said.

Well that explained a lot. Over the course of the concert, I'd seen the size of James' wrists and biceps. I had more muscle on my bones than he did, and by the looks of the amount of bins and boxes he had stashed on his side, there was no way in fuck he was going to be able to carry those things. I finished tearing down The Red Mile's display while James came back with a flatbed dolly. Without words, we helped each other carry our heavy-ass bins onto the dolly before he wheeled them out.

"Smella!" Emmett hollered from across the empty auditorium, skipping around the employees trying to mop the floors. "You need help?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "You're like thirty minutes too late. James and I are pretty much done."

The asshole had the nerve to raise an eyebrow in appreciation. "Well look at you, Miss Workaholic. Getting things done on your own," he mocked me.

"One of us needs to know what the definition of _getting shit done_ is," I laughed.

Emmett looked around the one empty table we had left before waving me over. "C'mon, I'll carry this out, and then we can leave."

As we walked out, I told him how good the show was and even mentioned how well he played. After taking drum lessons for ten years, he had no reason not to be good. Emmett had somehow managed to avoid doing any actual schoolwork in middle school and high school using his drumming skills as an excuse. Luckily for him, it paid off. My dance classes had only afforded me the opportunity to not look like a complete ass at prom.

Once we made it outside, Emmett steered toward the huge trailer that was hitched to the back of the bus. Three other men stood inside, trying to arrange the cases of musical equipment in an orderly manner. I recognized two of them from the last band and the other guy looked like the tech that had been sound checking their equipment.

"We're stopping at a travel center on the way out of here, so if you want to shower the funk off, grab your stuff from the suitcase," Emmett said. He leaned toward me before taking a quick sniff and frowning. "Take a fucking shower, please."

"Shut the hell up," I laughed, pulling away from him.

I'm not going to lie, I did take a whiff of my armpits and it was not pleasant. At all. I had a feeling I was going to end up buying some men's deodorant soon. Or I'd just steal Emmett's. Whichever was easier.

Walking toward the bus, I saw someone bent over at the hips, looking through the compartment where the suitcases were stashed. The bare upper body, dark hair, and full sleeve tattoo caught my eye while I walked up and I grimaced. "Riley."

He stopped moving around for a second before continuing to push things over in his endless search for his luggage.

"Riley, you dick," I said again.

When I heard him laugh from inside at the same time that I was right behind him, I frowned. I swear to God it was slow motion. My foot went up on its own, eyeing the target—his ass—at the same time I saw someone stepping out of the bus. Another bare chest, with a sleeve tattoo and dark hair. And as the tip of my foot connected with the _black dress pant-ed _ass, I realized that it wasn't my supposed future husband, Riley, that I'd kicked in the ass.

Fuck me hard.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! Here's another update. This one goes out to ybee for being ultra sweet :) You guys' enthusiasm for TGGT makes me unbelievably happy! Thank you!

Just as a side note: This story is about a Bandward or Rockward, whatever you prefer. These bands aren't mainstream, they aren't celebrities. This is what many people call the "underground scene." The most well-known of these bands are really popular and successful, but unless you search for them then you'll never know. If there's anything I know about, it's this :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but Smella is mine.

* * *

><p>Riley—the bastard, asshole, prick, dick—that he is doubled over in laughter when he saw my face turn bright red at the same time I squealed, "I'm so sorry!"<p>

When my Riley-imposter turned around with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, I wanted to fall on the floor and die. Or maybe even blame it on Emmett, but I couldn't. He wasn't anywhere near me. Damn it!

"Did you just kick him in the ass?" Riley cackled, holding his stomach with the palms of his hands.

I was mortified so it wasn't too strange when the nervous giggles bubbled out of me at the same time my face got so hot it rivaled the heating temperature of my straightening iron. I was one of those people who acted like a complete ass when I was nervous. According to Emmett and Alice, I acted like a complete ass all the time, but when I was nervous the _ass_ factor multiplied.

"It was an accident," I told the guy in front of me, eyeing his chest instead of his face. I was too embarrassed to look at him straight on. "I thought you were Riley," gasped out of my mouth.

Riley only laughed harder from his spot ten feet away.

Out of nowhere, the guy in front of me, whose ass had just become friendly with my foot, laughed. His laugh was a sweet, wispy noise that reminded me of bells—and the fact that he was the same guy who had just finished singing. Sweet Mary.

"It's fine," that silky voice chuckled.

Grumbling deep in my chest, at myself more than anything, I finally glanced up at the man, an embarrassed smile covering my face because what the hell else was I supposed to do? "I'm really—"

Tattoos.

Holy. Mother. Fucker.

All I caught at first were the tattooed bands that striped the length of his arm and the thick swirl that painted his pectoral. Then my eyes strayed to the hard muscles that packed his chest and abs, narrow hips flowed seamlessly into the slim-fitting black slacks that had paraded around the stage less than an hour before. _Hello Fancy Pants._

"Sorry," I breathed out finally at the same time I dragged my eyes up. If I kept my eyes on his bare chest any longer I'd officially be a hussy.

The guy was smirking at me, folding those arms across his sinewy chest. It was right then that I asked myself if I'd died. He was—I don't think there's a proper word to describe the face above that body. Riley was hot but this guy was the fucking sun. A strong jaw, high cheek bones detailed an angled face, and lips that gave mine—if I do say so myself—a run for their money. The realization slapped me like a ghetto bitch in the face.

I just kicked a guy hotter than the sun in the ass.

And I wanted to pull a turtle and hide in my shell.

"Em! Smella just kicked Edward in the ass!" Riley cried out.

I felt Emmeline's heavy hand on my shoulder before I heard him snort. "Fucking Smella," my brother laughed, slipping a heavy and sweaty arm over my shoulder. "Does that mean I don't have to introduce you?"

The guy I could safely assume was Edward shook his head before extending an arm out in my direction. "Edward," he said when I reached out to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Smella."

The elbow that came up to jab Emmett in the rib was an after thought. "It's Bella," I tried to correct Fancy Pants AKA beyond hot-as-fuck, shaking that warm palm a little longer than I probably should have. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Emmett snorted again. "Don't listen to her, her name's Smella, man."

Edward smiled again—a pull of sensual lips and straight white teeth— before dropping his arm, eyeing me and Emmett. "Are you guys—?" He drew a straight, horizontal line in the air.

"Eww," Em and I groaned out, shaking our heads quickly. It didn't make us pull apart though.

"That's disgusting," Emmett faked a gag. "She's my baby sister."

The slow nod that Edward gave us in return made it seem like he wasn't too entirely sure whether Em was full of shit or not. Smart guy. You could never trust Emmett Swan. Ever.

"I'm filling in for Demetri," I explained. When Edward quirked an eyebrow, I remembered that the two bands had only been touring for four dates before today. He probably didn't know who exactly Dem was. "He was the old merch guy."

"Oh yeah!" He snapped his fingers.

Someone yelled from inside the bus, telling us to hurry up. Em squeezed my shoulder. "Grab your stuff, stinky, and I'll meet you in there."

I nodded and watched him and Riley retreat into the bus, leaving me and Edward standing there. He smiled at me and gestured toward the open compartment. "I'll grab your bag if you promise not to kick me in the ass again without a good reason."

Throwing both my hands up in surrender, I shook my head. "No ass-kicking, I promise." I couldn't help but smile. "I won't call you a dick either." Oh God, what the hell was wrong with me? It was bad enough what I'd done, and then calling him—well, Riley, really—a dick was just the topping on the shit sundae.

He threw his head back and laughed. "Deal." A moment later, he was asking me what my suitcase looked like and pulling it out. I started yanking out a clean pair of underwear, shirt, and sweatpants while he finally pulled out the suitcase he'd been rummaging through minutes before.

I was still pretty humiliated while I zipped up my suitcase. "Your show was amazing," I squeaked out, keeping my eyes steady on the black suitcase I'd brought.

"Thank you," he murmured gently. It was impossible not to absorb the tone of his voice when he thanked me. There wasn't a hint of superiority or conceitedness at all. _Interesting._ "You've never seen us live before?" Fancy Pants asked.

"No." I picked up my suitcase and pushed it into the compartment. "I hadn't even heard of you guys before tonight." For a split second, I thought about telling him that I thought his voice was amazing but one embarrassment a night was enough. The night wasn't even over with.

Edward zipped up his own suitcase, holding a bundle of clothes to his chest. He turned to look at me, giving me an infectious smile. "I'm glad you liked it then," he blinked at me. "You ready to go?" I nodded and followed after him silently before he waved me into the bus first, smirking. "I don't want you to forget our deal so soon."


	6. Chapter 6

Here's another one! Thanks for your wonderful support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but Emmeline is mine.

* * *

><p>"Ladies and gentleman!" Emmett bellowed out the moment I stepped foot onto the bus. I stopped like an idiot. My brother let out two loud claps until the low buzzing of chatter in the bus stopped. I couldn't help but notice that there <em>weren't<em> any ladies on the bus contrary to his wording, and I knew him well enough to know he sure as hell wasn't referring to me as a lady. "Everyone, now that the asshole we kicked off the bus earlier today is gone, I want to introduce everyone to our newest addition."

He reached out to grab my hand, throwing up both of our arms like I'd won a boxing match. "This is my little sister Bella. She'll be joining our party for the next few months. Smella, say hi," he instructed me like I was a little kid. Fucking Emmett.

I grinned nervously at the five new faces looking at me intently and waved. "Hi guys."

A low murmur of hi's greeted me in return while I yanked my hand away from Em's grasp. At that very minute, I felt another hand land on the small of my back. Turning my head just barely, I saw that it was Edward.

"Don't bend over in front of her, she likes to kick people in the ass," he laughed, giving me a sly smile before shimmying around me to go through the bus.

I groaned while Emmett and Riley laughed like it was the funniest shit they'd ever heard. Minutes later, I found myself squished between Riley and Jake while we drove to the where we'd be showering. The couches on each side of the bus were long but it seemed like everyone was crammed into that front area that was comprised of a living space, a narrow kitchen, and a bathroom. After the mini tour Emmeline had given me hours before, I knew that passed the door by the bathroom was the twelve bunks we'd be sleeping in, and then a small room behind that with a U-shaped couch.

Riley introduced me to two of the guys from The Golden Giants band, some big guy named Felix and a lanky guy named Alec. I caught Edward standing in the kitchen, drinking something that looked steaming. Still half naked. Still unbelievably hot if not hotter than before. The yellow lights in the bus did wonders for the lean cut of his chest, which then did wonders for my panties—I mean ovaries.

Soon afterward, the bus pulled into a brightly lit gas station and Em tossed me a towel. We piled out of the bus with our stuff and headed inside, when I noticed I was the only one who didn't bring a backpack to stash my crap and that I'd forgotten my toiletries. I groaned and looked in, noticing that if I went into the showers after I paid, I couldn't come back out for free.

I waited outside the men's bathrooms for a few minutes, hoping Em or at least Jake or Riley would come out so I could borrow their soap and shampoo. After what felt like forever, I heard the smacking of flip-flops on the floor.

But it wasn't Emmett or Jake or Riley.

It was Fancy Pants in basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops making his way over to me with a backpack over his shoulder and black dress shoes hanging off two fingers. The instant he saw me standing there—looking like a hobo, I'm sure—he smiled at me genuinely.

"Everything okay?" he asked, looking. Judging. Making me feel like a total mess.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just waiting for Emmett."

Edward raised a dark eyebrow, giving me a chance to take in the brilliant bright green color of his eyes. They were such a pale shade of green they bordered on gray. He glanced at the clothes in my hands for a second before pursing his lips. "Did you forget your soap?" he asked.

I was a little hesitant to admit it, but I did. "Yeah. I want to borrow his."

Edward didn't even hesitate a second. "Here," he said as soon as I finished talking. Thrusting a bottle of Suave Men 3-in-1 bottle, Edward shrugged. "It's not for girls but—"

_Shit._ This man had another thing coming to him if he thought I cared what I used for toiletries. I'd even be willing to share with Riley—Nasty Ass of the year. I took the bottle from him and smiled for real, the embarrassment that had been swimming through my spine earlier disappeared at his kindness. "I have invisible balls, it's cool," I told him like I'd tell Emmett… and immediately regretted it. It's not like I thought there was a chance in hell that he'd be interested in me, but I didn't want him to think of me as being butch or something.

Edward laughed that cute ringing bells laugh that made _me_ laugh. "All right, invisi-balls. Hurry up or they'll try to leave you."

Walking backward at his command, I gave him another wave. "Thanks! I owe you."

He just nodded at me before I ran into the area where the showers were. I took a shower as fast as I could, not caring in the least that I smelled like a clean guy. As soon as I finished drying off and dressing, I hustled out of the bathroom feeling way better than before. Luckily, my brother was waiting for me right outside the restrooms.

"I was gonna give you five more minutes before I went in there," he warned. "I thought someone had kidnapped you." Those dark eyes that looked like mine peered at my feet, earning me a frown. "Where are your flip flops and why are you holding Men's shampoo?" He smirked a millisecond later. "Are you finally going through with that surgery?"

I snorted and aimed my fist toward his stomach. "Asshole!" Em chuckled, dodging my hand. "That Edward guy let me borrow his shampoo because I didn't grab mine and you were taking forever douching in there," I hiked my thumb backward toward the restroom. "And I didn't bring my flip-flops in, why?"

He grimaced. "You stepped on that floor without shoes on?" When I nodded in response he shuddered, so I glanced at his feet to see that he was wearing flip-flops, too. "You better pray tonight."

When Em gives you a reason to pray, you better pray. I just didn't know what for.

We made our way into the bus, where I handed Edward his shampoo back while Em made us three packets of ramen noodles to share, sixty-forty style. He promised to take me to Wal-Mart the next day to buy groceries. As soon as we were done, I walked by a good-looking blonde guy—in the Golden Giants, I could only assume—who smiled at me in a way that made me smirk back, before going into the bunk area.

"Mine is that one," Em said pointing at the top bunk at the far end of the space. He then pointed at the middle bunk. "Demetri slept on that one, but I wouldn't sleep there."

I immediately thought of him drooling over the bed—or worse. Yuck.

"We're trading bunks?" I asked him, waggling my eyebrows.

It was Emmeline's turn to snort. "You're out of your mind. You can sleep on that one," he chuckled, pointing at bottom bed on the opposite corner of the area where I could see Jake sleeping at the top. "It's the only free one."

I shrugged, not caring at all. "That's fine."

It was then that I saw the curtain on the bunk above mine slide open and I fist-pumped in my brain because sane people don't do that in real life. Edward looked at me from his spot in the bed above mine.

Hot-diggity-damn.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! I see we have a lot of new readers, so welcome-welcome! Here's another one. Thank you all for your kindness, I love your sweet and hilarious reviews like you can't imagine. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this is mineee!

* * *

><p>Two weeks go by in the blink of an eye.<p>

I've had a handful of fans ask me, "How awesome is it to be on tour with _them?"_

I live in a bus with ten men. I shower in gas stations. I got some kind of fungus thing on the bottom of my toes from the _one_ shower I took without flip-flops on. I've eaten more pizza over the course of two weeks than I have my entire life. I sweat. I stink. Everyone sweats. And stinks. I spend countless hours rolling around in a bus from town to town, and I hang out in venues for 9 hours a day.

This life is not glamorous. At. All.

But I don't think I've ever laughed so hard before.

Em and I have been glued at the hip, like we're trying to make up for all the time we've spent apart. When we're in the bus, I'm constantly with Riley, Jake, or James. When we're off the bus, Emmeline goes everywhere with me. I've spoken to the other guys a few times, but it's almost like they stay away from me. Who knows?

We're in Philadelphia for the day, and all I want is a freaking cheesesteak. The Three Stooges —The Red Mile—are doing their sound check later than usual and if I wait any longer to go on the hunt for food, I won't make it back in time for the start of the show. According to Jake, I have something called a _job_. Like I don't know what the hell that is.

I found my new friend, James, sitting outside of the trailer with a huge pile of boxes. He's clenching a clipboard and as soon as he sees me—wearing his cutoff skinny jeans and a tank top that does him no justice at all—he shoots me a tight smile.

"Busy?" I asked him.

James, who I made weigh himself to find out that he's a whopping one hundred and twenty pounds at five foot eight inches tall, rolled his eyes. We've become friends over the hours of free time we have at the merch tables. He's quiet but he's smart, and when the only people I have time to spend with are three bumbling baboons that are louder than howler monkeys, I really enjoy it. "We just got a new batch of shirts in and I have to inventory all of them." He shot me a flat look. "By myself."

I couldn't help but laugh, knowing all too well how frustrated he got doing merch for GG. They pretty much leave him on his own to do everything. According to him, it's pretty normal for bands to do that but I still pointed at him and laughed when he told me. It's times like this that make me appreciate the "sister card" I get to pull on Em.

"I was going to go get a cheesesteak," I almost told him how I wanted him to go with me, but what's the point in rubbing it in? The poor bastard is stuck working outside, under the hot sun, counting t-shirts. "Want me to bring you one?"

James eats half of what I do. It amazes me. He'd probably want me to bring him a kid's meal.

His blue eyes lit up and he nodded, suddenly forgetting how irritated he'd been a minute before. "Please," he started fishing through his back pocket for his wallet. Handing me a ten dollar bill, he made a face. "Who's going with you?"

Even though he isn't my brother, apparently James worries about me too. I like it. "No one, my brother's busy. I'll just walk somewhere close by."

"Bella," his face already telling me that he thinks my idea is terrible. "We're in Philly."

"And?"

James shook his head. "Find someone else to go with you," he insisted.

"Where do you want to go?" the voice I'd come to recognize as Edward's through our handful of conversations floated through the air.

I turned to look at him, in his black basketball shorts, Nike running shoes, and t-shirt, he doesn't even look like the same man who gets onstage in his dress clothes every night. I think he looks even better when he isn't in that persona, but that's probably just me. Even though Edward and I have only spoken a couple of times about how the most recent show went, he still seems like a really nice guy who won't let me live down kicking him in the ass. I tend to go to bed before him so it's not like we get to gossip in our bunks, damn it.

"I want to get a Philly cheesesteak," I practically drooled imaging the sandwich in my head.

I guess the dreamy look on my face gave me away because he smiled. "I'll go with you."

And just like that, we're walking around, looking for someplace to go eat.

"Are you having fun on tour?" he asked as soon as we'd crossed the parking lot.

I couldn't help but look at him out of the corner of my eye, nodding when I met his gaze. "Yeah…besides dealing with the heat."

He groaned. "It never gets easier to handle, trust me. I've been touring for the last ten years and it hasn't gotten any better to do it in the summer." Edward stuck his tongue out and I think I could have exploded at his cuteness.

"Ten years?" I asked him. How old was he?

"Ten years," he reiterated. Edward turned to look at me with those albino green eyes. "Is this your first tour?"

"Nope. I used to go on tour with Emmett when I wasn't in school but that was a few years ago. This whole bus thing is new."

Edward grinned at me slyly. "I figured when you didn't take shoes in the showers with you that first day." He looked down at my tennis shoes and waggled his eyebrows in a way that make me think of how easygoing he is. "I heard you got fungus from it."

I don't even try to assume which asshole spilled the beans on my foot problem. It could've been any of them. Pricks. I'm not sure where the actions comes from but I bumped his arm with my shoulder; he's so much taller than I am that I'm hitting somewhere between his elbow and bicep. "I don't want to talk about it," I laughed.

And just like that he's hip-checking me with a big smile on his face. "Itchy toes? Your skin looks raw?" he asked between laughs.

Just at his mention of itchy toes, that crease between the balls of my feet and my toes starts doing its weird itchy-burn feeling. I've been smothering my feet in cream for two weeks and changing my socks twice a day per Riley's instructions. J

Edward's face is peppered in amusement but his eyes kind of crinkle a little at the corners. "I learned my lesson, too. The first tour we went on, I took a shower at a fan's house and ended up with the worst case of athlete's foot ever. The guys wouldn't let me take my shoes off."

I made a face at him and shook my head. I don't know what it is about his honesty that makes me stop giving a shit. I mean, it isn't like I really have a reason to try to impress him with my non-fungus station. The closest I've ever tried to change myself for a man had been with my ex and that only went as far as me not farting in front of him but I think that's a given. I'm a firm believer that someone will love me for who I am. And unfortunately, sometimes that's not enough, but whatever.

His smile is playful when I rolled my eyes up at him, and finally nodded. "It itches and hurts like crazy." I shuddered. "I hope it goes away soon."

"I'm sure you'll be fine in no time," he grinned, showing me the perfect white teeth hidden behind his pale pink lips. "Just hope you don't get diarrhea while on tour, _that's _the worst."

A diarrhea conversation on our first time hanging out? I do believe I've found a friend.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! Here's another one. To my anonymous reviewer who asked why Bella doesn't buy fungus cream: She does. I think I mentioned it twice in the last chapter (remember she changes her socks often?) Anyway, enjoy! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine but everything else is mine.

* * *

><p>"No, you didn't!"<p>

"Yes, I did."

Edward pulled his plain gray shirt up over his mouth and nose, closing his pale eyes simultaneously. His shoulders were shaking with restraint, trying to hold back laughs. A quarter of his Philly cheesesteak was leftover on his plate, his cup of water almost empty while we finished up at the restaurant we'd found. "What did you do?"

I shrugged, and then smiled. "I cried."

It's then that he throws back his head and laughs, his Adam's apple bobbing in the air in time with his chuckles at my recollection of puking all over the stage at my first dance recital. I'm not really sure how we got on the topic of embarrassing moments onstage, but we did. Apparently he forgot the words to a song he did at a talent show once, and got booed offstage. After someone threw a coke bottle at him.

He leaned forward over the small table we were sharing without a lick of embarrassment. "I had to take a crap in a plastic bag once. The bathroom on the bus wasn't working, we were in the middle of nowhere and there was a thunderstorm," he admitted.

For the record, there's no way in hell you can't _not_ laugh when someone tells you they took a crap in a plastic bag at some point. I think it doesn't help that Edward has such a striking, pretty face. I've always figured that the upper echelon of beauty doesn't do the ridiculous things us semi-attractive people do; like fart or burp in front of others, _smell_, or have stinky shit. Apparently, Edward Cullen is the anomaly.

When I hunched over the table to press my forehead against the greasy countertop, he started poking at my shoulder. "When you gotta go, _you gotta go_," he clarified with another laugh. I looked up to see that his grin was telling me the story of a handsome guy who doesn't take himself too seriously.

I think I'm in love.

Not really, but I definitely could be.

"Did I gross you out?" he asked me when I didn't respond because I was too busy living in my head.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Are you kidding me? Have you spoken to Emmett?" Edward nodded but I can tell he hasn't talked to him enough to know the full extent of my brother's maturity impairment. "We have one bathroom at our house that we were forced to share growing up. He'd shower before me everyday since he rode the bus and my dad would give me rides to school. Let's just say he started leaving me presents in the toilet," I snickered. "You can bring on the brown pickles with me anytime."

Edward pulled his shirt up over his face again, chuckling. "God, so the world has Emmett to blame for making you this way?"

"Hey!" I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I don't have a reason to think that he means it in a negative way.

That pretty pale face grinned, and I noticed for the first time a deep dimple in his right cheek. "You're beautiful—," I'm not sure how I managed not to fall off my chair _and_ not stop listening. This would be like… Simon Cowell giving me a compliment. "—and you don't have a problem talking to me about diarrhea and vomiting while we're eating. You're fun."

The laugh that barked out of my throat made me sound like I had the hiccups. I think I even waved my hand dismissively at him—probably looking like a drunk prostitute. "You're silly."

He shrugged at me, like telling me I'm attractive wasn't a big deal in any way, shape, or form. Maybe I'm just deprived of attention. That's not out of the question.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked him.

"Unfortunately," he smiled before glancing down at his watch. "We should get going, I think doors are opening pretty soon."

I nodded at him and started gathering my trash and James' cold sandwich under my arm, while he did the same.

"I have two older sisters. They were pretty much the same way with me that Emmett was with you," he gave me a flat look but I could see how amused he was by whatever memories of his siblings he was reliving.

"They used to take shits and purposely not flush the toilet seat?" I asked, snorting.

Edward grinned, raking a hand across the buzz cut of his light brown hair. His tattoos popped against the pale skin beneath the wide bands of ink striping the length of his arm. "Just as bad, they'd leave their tampons all over the place and when I was really little, they'd make me wear dresses, and tell me my real name was Edna."

I threw my hand out, slapping the back of my hand across his abs to stop him from walking. "Wait. You're not a girl?" I'd barely finished my question when he started laughing.

"We're not friends anymore."


	9. Chapter 9

Hi guys. Here's another chapter. Don't read my story if you don't like something about it. Trust me, I don't care. I'm saving us both time. Anyway, thank you guys for your wonderful words. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but everything else is mine.

* * *

><p>New Jersey was the next day.<p>

It was only about three in the afternoon, and we'd been parked at the venue for close to two hours. My brother, Riley, and a couple of the guys in GG decided to go "eat," which in reality means _go get shit-faced in the afternoon_. As much as I love Em, I don't like seeing him when he's been drinking a lot so I opted out of going. Instead, I plastered myself in the back room of the bus with _The Book Thief_. Even though I'm having fun on tour, playing Uno with James entertains me like nobody's business, and sucking ass at Mario Kart against Riley makes me laugh, this whole living-with-ten-other-people-thing is hard.

I miss Alice, my parents, and even my lumpy bed. It's crazy the things I take for granted. Like showering without shoes and being able to take a lengthy, hot shower.

"Can I come in?" a soft voice asked while the door was cracked open.

"Of course," I answered, recognizing Edward's low timbre on the other side.

He peeked his head in, looked at me, and then stepped in around the door completely. "I wasn't sure if you were doing something," his eyes flickered to me from the corner of their home before he plopped down onto the length of couch opposite mine.

"Nah, just reading. What are you up to?" I asked, eyeing the ropey muscles beneath his tank and— "Are you playing soccer?" His shorts were like riding up his thighs, showing off what seemed like meters of smooth, creamy skin beneath auburn hair. I looked further down to see that he was wearing a different pair of tennis shoes, not his normal ones.

Edward nodded, scratching at the short hair covering his scalp. "I was supposed to, but Felix hasn't come back yet."

"Didn't he go with them?" I swear I saw him get into the taxi with the other morons. If that was the case, there was no way they were coming back before six. Sober. Possibly even standing on two feet.

"Yeah."

I don't know why I felt bad, but maybe I did. I hated people telling me that they would do something, and then they didn't. Disappointment is a bitter thing. I'd much rather take someone being blunt with me, and hurting my feelings, than let me down. "They're not coming back soon," I told him.

Those translucent green eyes that bordered on gray blinked in my direction.

Slipping my legs off the couch to plant my feet on the floor, I sighed. "Luckily for you, I played soccer."

"You did?" He made it sound like the idea as preposterous. It may or may not have been because I complained about running from the bus to the venue _once_, but in my defense, it'd been raining.

Either way, I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "In middle school."

Edward laughed, those perfect, white teeth waving me hello from across the room. "What you're meaning to tell me is that you're pretty much a professional?"

I nodded. "Exactly. I'll play with you, if you want."

His eyes widened playfully. "I'm pretty fast," he added.

Smirking, I shrugged. "I have no problems tripping your fast-ass, but I'm not exactly slow either." Well, I wasn't. Even though it'd been a couple of weeks, the only thing I really kept up with since my break-up had been running a few days a week on the treadmill or climbing the Stairmaster. My ass and thighs could thank me for that when I was forty.

"Are you sure?" he asked me again.

I suddenly had the urge to pinch his cheek for making sure I wanted to go with him. He'd gone to eat with me the day before, so I could go do this. It wasn't like he was asking me to go on a drug run or something. "Let me just change," I looked at my thin sweatpants, "and find sunblock. I'll be quick."

Edward grinned, his dimple winking in my direction. "I have some, you get ready and I'll grab it and my ball."

Grabbing my two-day-old shorts and sports bra, and a tank top I'd worn to bed, I got dressed as quickly as possible and grabbed my buy-out money for lunch. If we were going to go suffer from heat exhaustion, then we were stopping to get something to eat at some point afterward. He just didn't know it yet. After telling Jake that I was leaving, I found Edward waiting for me outside of the bus, holding a soccer ball under one arm and a tube of Banana Boat in his free hand.

"You ready, Mia Hamm?" he asked.

"I prefer Pelé, thank you very much."

He groaned and waved me over. Flipping open the top of the sunblock, he squirted a big goop into his palm before tossing it over to me. I'd like to say that I focused on putting the sunblock on my own body carefully, but I didn't. When Edward peeled off his shirt and started smothering the cream into his freckle covered shoulders and arms and chest and neck and even the tops of his ears, it was better than watching porn. He had a lean frame, like a runner's and just spank-worthy. I finished slathering myself sloppily while he put on his tank.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked him when we started walking around the building toward the street.

He nodded and pointed to our left. "The field the guy told me about is like a twenty minute walk." I nodded and followed closely next to him as we walked, after a couple of minutes he asked, "Are you on summer break?"

"Nope. I finished school in May. I just—haven't been able to find a job yet." Saying it out loud was weird. I mean, I knew it wasn't unusual to not find a job right after finishing school the way the economy was, and even more so with the degree I'd gotten but it still made me feel a little raw.

"School like high school or college?" his words were tangled together in a sweet tone, questioning and disbelieving.

"High school?" I squawked. "No, I graduated from Washington with a bachelor's in history."

"Have you seen teenage girls? You never know anymore, trust me." I don't know why, but I grimaced. Sure Emmett had told me the same thing before but that's Emmett. No surprise there. There was this one time he flirted with a transvestite all night when we went out for my birthday. I've had to swear to take that shit to the grave with me or else he'd tell everyone about how I peed in my bed one night a couple years back. "Are you going to teach?"

"No, I'm trying to find a job doing research or maybe at a museum or something. I don't really know, to be honest. I'd rather not teach though." I hopped over the slab of broken concrete that jutted out of the ground.

Edward just took a long step over it, nodding. "You'll find something, just give it some time." The sound of loud beeping coming from his pocket tore his attention away from the sidewalk. Yanking out his phone, he told me to "Hold on" before answering the call. "Hey… going to play soccer…yeah….I'm almost there," we really weren't that close to where he said we'd be. "I'll see you in a few days… I miss you too… okay… bye."

Now the chances that the person he was talking to on the other end was a family member, could be pretty high, but my gut feeling told me otherwise. Someone that good-looking didn't _not_ have a significant other in the picture.

"Girlfriend?" my mouth spewed without a second thought.

He just shook his head. "Old friend."

_Friend_. Sure. Not wanting to press the issue because it really wasn't any of my business, I asked him about where he was from. Chicago. How long he'd been singing. Since he was seven. How long he'd been in Golden Giants. Since high school. We made it to the park right after my last question. With the sun already making my skin feel like the surface of an iron, Edward smirked at me before dropping down into a squat to stretch his thighs. Long, muscular thighs and more thighs. Yum.

"C'mon, Pelé."

I glanced at his legs again and prayed for the best.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello, my sweethearts! Thank you all for kicking butt. I flove you guys. Tomorrow I'll respond to reviews, right now I'm going to bed. xo

disclaimer: i don't own twilight but the rest of this shit is mine.

* * *

><p>"My unborn niece kicks better than you do!"<p>

"Frodo can run faster than you!"

"If I had a dick, I'd make you suck it!"

"I'd kick you in the nuts if you had any!"

When the last thing that's said during a "soccer game" is "_Why would you do that to me?_" it probably means something went wrong at some point.

The hour and a half we spent out in the soccer field was… something else.

For the first fifteen minutes, we were really respectful of each other. Just kicking around the ball as we ran up and down the field slowly. He'd shoot me smiles, I'd shoot him smiles.

"_C'mon Bella,_" he teased, taking off with the ball down the net-less goal posts.

In the fifteen minutes after that, we were hustling back and forth across the grass. I'd started trying to steal the ball from him, because with his long legs he could make it from place to place faster than I could. The closest I'd gotten to him was when I started whacking his hand out of my face; he'd put his hand close to my mouth each time I'd get too close.

"_Stop hogging the ball!" _I told him, trying to steal it.

From the thirty to forty-five minute mark, we'd both started running as quickly as we could. He looked at me and widened his eyes when he saw how fast I was—when I wanted to be. Sweaty as hell, I started digging my shoulder into his side to throw him off balance and get the ball before taking off to the opposite side of the field. I mean, I never said I wasn't a dirty player, so what could he expect?

He'd start yelling "_Yellow card!"_ each time I'd shove him.

And then, it got out of hand. Even though we were laughing our asses off, I started elbowing him—_kind of_ gently—in the ribs, swinging my leg out to try to trip him, and I kicked him in the thigh another time. Not-so-innocent-Fancy-Pants pulled the end of my ponytail and would use his shoulder to push me away.

When I managed to trip him, he grabbed the back of my shirt to pull me down too. Unfortunately, his weight made me fall down hip first, scraping the shit out of my side as I landed next to him, still laughing. Edward was smart enough to hop up and taking off running to get the stray ball.

My shirt was soaked in sweat, my arms and neck ached with sun exposure, and I had dirt all over me. So, it wouldn't have been a big deal when Edward dipped into our half-limping, lazy-running time by hip-checking me so hard I lost my balance and fell on the ground.

But it was a big deal when we decided that playing "goalie" was a good idea. On the first try with me blocking the goal, Edward took a dozen steps backward before kicking the shit out of the ball. His goal: just getting the soccer ball in. The ball's goal: breaking my fucking face. It wasn't _really_ Edward's fault, the ball curved at the last minute and my hands were in the air when the ball got intimate with my chin.

I'd never gotten into a fight before, and I suddenly realized why. Getting hit in the face was… Not cool. At. All. I know for a fact I squealed, grabbed my chin with both hands, screamed, "Why would you do that to me?" and then fell to the ground beneath me.

Edward—as I quickly learned—was a jackass. I could hear him laughing as he ran up to me, getting down on his knees somewhere close by. "Bella, oh my God, I'm so sorry!" he cried, or something like that. I felt a hand land on top of mine and another clasp the back of my head in his palm. "Are you okay?"

"No!"

He had the nerve to laugh harder, wiggling closer so that his bare, dirty knees pressed against my own bare, dirty knees. "I'm so sorry."

I'm not sure how long we sat there, me squeezing my eyes closed and my chin between my hands, and Edward holding my hands in one of his and the back of my head in his free hand. It took everything in me not to cry because seriously, my chin was throbbing so bad my brain was hurting. When I stopped having the urge to cry, I blinked up to see those translucent eyes peering at me in concern.

"Let me see," he said gently, prying my hand away from my face. Once he prodded with his fingers and made me wince, he pulled his hand away. "Will you forgive me?"

"No." I frowned and paused. "Yes."

Edward smiled. "Let's go get you some ice, princess." He stood up first, holding his hand out for me to take. After pulling me up, he started leading me toward the street, only stopping to grab his soccer ball from behind me.

After about a million "I'm sorry" comments from Edward, we stopped at deli where he wrapped ice in a few napkins and ordered us both food. We didn't talk because I pretty much held the makeshift icepack to my face the entire time I wasn't eating. On the walk back, I poked him hard in the ribs.

"I had fun up until you tried to break my jaw."

"It was an accident!" he frowned, reaching up to squeeze the back of my neck.

"Whatever. Jerk." Rolling my eyes as exaggerated as possible, I laughed. "Well, at least I can say you got your ass kicked, too."

He nodded and looked down at himself. Brown and green splotches covered his shirt, shorts, and I swear there was even some mud tangled in his leg hairs. If he wasn't so handsome, he'd look like a homeless person. "Uhh, yeah. You play so fucking dirty." His eyebrows twitched before he waggled them. "Will you come play with me again?

I sighed but smiled. "I guess."

The only other thing that made me laugh that night was the look on Emmett's face when we walked up to him. He was standing outside the bus with the blonde guy and Felix from GG. He blinked, and then blinked again, narrowing his eyes in our direction.

"What the fuck happened to your face, Smella?"

I looked up at Edward and grinned, hooking my thumb in his direction before answering Emmett. "Edward."


	11. Chapter 11

*tap dances* here's another one, my lovelies! i heart you guys, BIG TIME. no words can express how much i appreciate your love for this story. didn't feel like writing with appropriate capitalization. meh. xoxo

disclaimer: i don't own twilight (obviously) but this bad boy is mine. you steal. you die.

* * *

><p>"Please tell me I didn't just miss you and some girl in a mud wrestling match," Riley stated from his spot on the stairs of the bus.<p>

I smirked at him and nodded slowly. "Pretty much, Ri. Me and this one," I gestured toward Edward with my head. I _almost_ called him Edna, but I refrained from it only because he hadn't called me Smella again. "Just played soccer."

"Dude, did you hit her in the face?" Emmett asked with wide eyes.

A part of me didn't really think he was upset that Edward was somehow involved with damaging my face. I thought he was upset that it wasn't _him_ that had done the deed, really. I can't count how many bruises, sprains, and scrapes my brother had been responsible for over the course of my life. He'd refused to believe I was a girl until I started my period. There wasn't anything that Em had spared me from growing up; wrestling maneuvers, bike-riding, basketball games in the driveway, the eldest Swan child had never been the type of sibling who pushed me aside just because I was younger. In hindsight, I think as he got older, he used me to lure in the ladies but maybe not.

Edward made a face, like he wasn't sure whether Em would want t kill him or high-five him. My money was on the latter but that's only because I know my Emmeline like the back of my hand. "I kicked the ball and it hit her in the face."

No surprise to me—Emmett opened his big mouth and laughed loudly. "No shit," he cackled. When I huffed at his reaction, annoyed, he laughed again. "You know damn well you can't catch to save your life. Remember that time I threw the basketball at you?"

_Umm, yes._ He made my nose bleed when I didn't even _try_ to catch the damn thing and it smacked my face with vengeance. Pointing at my nose, I nodded. "I haven't forgotten, asshole."

Riley seemed to remember the incident too because he laughed. "I remember. You cried, and then threw the ball at the back of his head afterward." His voice broke toward the end of the sentence when he laughed even harder at the memory.

"Screw you guys," I mumbled. "I'm going to shower." Slapping my brother right in the gut as I made my way to the outside compartment of the bus to grab a clean pair of clothes and my shower stuff, I tried to hurry because I wouldn't have too much time to set up our booth before doors opened. I'd barely grabbed my stuff when I saw those dirty, hairy legs in my peripheral vision before standing. I smiled at Edward as he walked with me to the back entrance to the venue.

"Are you okay?" he asked, touching a tender spot on my elbow.

I nodded but suddenly noted the dozens of places that had just started feeling sore. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'll probably be crying tomorrow….or in a few minutes, no worries."

He frowned. "I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have played so rough with you," he apologized, his sweet, husky voice telling me a remorseful tale of its own.

"It's okay. I had fun," I winked at him. Sure it'd been a little rough but it was fun and I figured I could handle it. Especially since I got to check out that sweet ass a few times. Yes and yum. "Did I tell you to suck my dick?"

"Pretty much, princess," he laughed. "That was before I told you that I'd kick you in the nuts if you had any."

The snort that escaped out of my nose was like a blow horn. "Was that before or after I said that you didn't need both your legs to sing tonight?"

Edward shook his head and pulled up his shirt over his mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter. "You know what? I'm not sorry you got hit in the face anymore."

I couldn't help but snicker, smiling like a total freaking fool. As we walked into the venue, I pointed in the direction of the creepy bathroom that had a shower to the right. "I'm going to shower."

"All right." He smiled at me gently before pulling on the end of my shirt. It was impossible for me not to notice that he was just as handsy as I was. "Thanks for going with me."

Taking a couple steps backward, I nodded. "No problem. Let's go again once I get sensation back in my limbs."

It was Edward's turn to wink. "Deal."

Scrambling over to the shower, I washed off as quickly as possible. A brown swirl painted the bottom of the old shower stall. I tried my best not to over analyze my afternoon with Edward. I really did. I mean, he was just a nice guy that I got along with really well. But I didn't want to think for a split second that there was more to our friendship then that. I'd met so many flirtatious guys in this business through Emmett, that I knew better than to put _any _eggs in my basket—even if Edward was unbelievably hot, sweet, and pretty much perfect in his own way. After all, everything that had happened with my ex had cemented the idea that you couldn't assume anything.

Drying off and gathering all of my shit together, I opened the door to the bathroom to find Riley sitting on an ancient looking sofa right next to the door. His red dotted eye winked at me from his spot. "Where you goin'?"

"I need to go get the merch up," I told him.

"Come wash my back for me really fast. You should start practicing now for when we get married."

I groaned. "I'll go get Emmett. I'm sure he has a lot of experience washing your back."

Riley grinned before I walked out of the back room to get to the floor where James would be. I spotted him setting up the wall rack carefully next to where one of the Stooges had set up our table and left our bins. I saw him glance in my direction before looking away, and then a second later, looked back at me.

"What happened?" his sweet soul practically gasped.

"Soccer ball to the face, bro," I told him as soon as we were close enough for him to hear me. James refused to wear earplugs each night despite the fact that he clearly couldn't hear very well anymore. I usually had to yell at him if I wasn't close enough.

James grimaced, the ring in his eyebrow shifting up with his movement. "Bella."

I didn't even want to touch my face because I knew if I did, I'd keep touching it all night. If I pretended like it wasn't there, then I wouldn't mess with it. I started pulling out the sample shirts from their bins, setting my shit up when the song being played softly throughout the venue by the sound guy changed, and I froze.

"I hate this fucking band," James complained a millisecond later.

I looked over at him and nodded, accepting the fact that me and quiet James were meant to be friends. "Me too."

The music only reminded me that I needed to enjoy these next ten weeks as much as possible.

* * *

><p>...and just to kill a some birds with one stone, i've had a few people ask about my "other funny story." *smirks* my beloved Lingus. it's only available as an e-book now through amazonkindle, barnesandnoble/nook, itunes/ibookstore, and the sony store. Lingus is my crowning jewel of ridiculous-ness. if you're interested, feel free to look it up on any of those websites by its title or me (mariana zapata). xxxxx

twitter me: marianazapata_

blog me: marianazapata(dot)com


	12. Chapter 12

Hi everyone! Here's another one. This chapter was originally about three times this length and I decided last minute it was too long, so I'm splitting it up. Yes, I'm a cruel bitch, but I love you guys. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this is mine.

* * *

><p>"Let's play Twister."<p>

"No."

"C'mon, Bella."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"_Please?"_

Sigh. "Fine."

"Naked."

Pause. "Okay. I've always wanted to see what a hermaphrodite's body looks like."

Jake started laughing hysterically from his spot across the living space from Riley and me. We had a day off for the first time in nearly three weeks, but I think it was mainly because our drive was like twenty hours total. The cabin fever and boredom was starting to hit epic proportions at the eighteenth hour and not even Mario Kart could ease the hysteria that was bubbling through all of us—or at least the ones of us who were awake.

"You know I'm a man," Riley objected, pulling on my earlobe.

I smirked in his direction. "I don't know anything about how manly you are, thank you very much." Tapping the tip of his nose, I smiled slyly. "I do know that you screamed bloody murder when that rat ran across your foot two days ago."

In all honesty, I'd screamed too and the rat hadn't even gotten within ten feet of me. The point was—Riley had pulled a Sarah Michelle Gellar and screeched like he was starring in the next _I Know What You Did Last Summer_. Only he, Jake, James, and I, had been outside when it happened. If Emmett had been out there, every person on their band's Facebook page would have known too. Em had a knack for filming things that ended up being hilarious. Like my last dance recital, when the girl fell off the stage. Sure she could've hurt herself, but she didn't, so it was okay to laugh at the video about a dozen—or five dozen times.

Those blue eyes that I loved in a brotherly way glared at me. "That thing was the size of a possum."

"That thing was smaller than my shoe at five years old," I corrected him.

"Potatoe, Potato, whatever, whatevah," he huffed. "You would've screamed, too."

Jake leaned forward on the seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "Dude, I'm surprised you didn't cry."

Riley scowled before going into a rant about how much of a pussy Jake was because he cried watching _The Iron Giant_.

I sat there watching them go back and forth until Edward came out of the bunk area a few minutes later. That man slept so much it bordered on being a coma. His face was sleepy and creased as he made his way through the kitchen, bumping knuckles with Jake and Riley before plopping down next to me. "Morning," he yawned, slouching with his legs falling open. One hairy knee relaxed against mine.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I smirked at him. Even with a bit of dry drool on the corner of his lips and part of his hair smashed against his scalp, he was a looker. I noticed that the arm not filled in with tattoos still had a few bruises and scrapes from our soccer match from before we'd gotten into Canada. We'd barely crossed the border back that morning.

He blinked those clear green eyes at me. "Are you going to the movies with us?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I didn't even know anyone was going to the movies." Awkward.

"Come with us then. After showering Marc said he'd park at some mall with a movie theater." When I didn't immediately reply, he blew out a long breath of air directly into my face, making me wince. "I'll even let you share whatever candy you buy with me."

"When was the last time you brushed your teeth? And I have a feeling that even if I don't agree to share my stuff with you, you'd take it anyway."

Edward cupped a hand over his mouth, making it seem like he was blowing into his palm and breathing it in. "I brushed my teeth last night and your guess sounds about right."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes playfully at him. "It's time you brushed your teeth again, and you're lucky that I have no problem sharing as long as you wash your hands before."

"I think it's time you brushed _your_ teeth again—"

"My breath doesn't smell."

"And I'm very glad to know that you are willing to share." I grinned at him, earning one back in return. "Just for you, I'll brush my teeth now. Happy?"

I nodded. "Very." I wanted to add that a hot guy with morning breath was a tragedy but I didn't. That would be terrible. Embarrassing. Pathetic. Even though I had a feeling Edward wouldn't be one of those to make a friendship awkward after a declaration of that proportion, I wasn't going to rely on it. Plus, with my luck and his goofy nature, he'd probably make fun of me for it. Maybe. I sighed and looked at him. "What movie are we watching?"


	13. Chapter 13

Happy Easter! Thanks for being great readers! xo

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this is mine.

* * *

><p>Hours later, after we'd all gotten off the bus to shower at yet another travel center, I'd convinced Emmett via text messaging to braid my hair. First, I hadn't felt like a real girl in forever. Being around guys constantly made my level of giving a shit practically non-existent. Sure, I cared that I didn't smell but that's where it started and ended. The last time I'd worn make-up had been the first day of the tour, and the last time I'd worn anything besides sweats and shorts had been the same day. I'd been more about comfort than cute despite Em's constant teasing about looking <em>haggard<em>.

Second, it also didn't help that I'd been thinking about getting over the bitterness that was my last relationship since New Jersey. Alice had always told me that when she felt better when she knew she looked good, and in my case, I'd take feeling like a normal, clean girl over _good_ in a heartbeat. There was nothing that a shower, the dress I'd grabbed from my suitcase, and a good braid couldn't give me a kick-start to. Emmett had sneaked into the back room of the bus with me after agreeing to shower quickly so we could lock the door and get to business.

"You have a lot of split ends," Em claimed an entire minute after I'd sat on the floor in front of him cross-legged. His fingers were parting my hair with no care.

"I'm pretty sure I asked you to braid my hair, not for your opinion," I laughed, digging my elbow into the meat of his inner thigh.

The bastard yanked on my hair hard while snorting. "I hope you go bald." His large hands brushed through my hair once more before parting it again the way he wanted.

Emmett had learned how to braid my hair when he was about nine and I was four because mom had broken her hand and couldn't do it for me. What had started as a simple braid down the back of my head had turned into a full-blown interest that led to him learning how to French braid the shit out of my hair. He was better at it than my mom had ever been. His talent was also one of those things that we kept between the two of us and our parents. I never gave him shit about it because it was something he'd done because he loved me and I didn't want to taint that with my humor.

"So we're going to be in Seattle next week," he murmured as his fingers moved over the hair right above my forehead.

I tried not to tense up, I swear, but it was impossible. "Yeah, I know."

"Are you… going to see Alice?" he asked, but I knew that wasn't the real question he wanted to ask me based on his tone.

"Yeah. She's spending the day with me," I answered, trying to dodge the words that loomed in his big ass head. Alice had been my best friend since my sophomore year when she moved to Forks, and I missed her a lot. Text messages and random calls weren't enough.

Emmett made a humming noise in his throat while he worked a minute longer. He barely made it sixty seconds, and he was grunting. "Are you going to be okay?" he finally asked.

I patted the top of his foot and said, "Yeah. I will be." Fighting the urge to turn around and look at one of the two only men in my life that I knew would do anything for me, I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a second. "I don't—I don't care about him anymore but I still want to light his nuts on fire every second of everyday." It was the truth. I didn't love the son of a bitch anymore, but I still didn't hope he had a great life. I wanted him to burn. To rot from the inside out. Fair, right?

"Good. I want to do the same," he chuckled. "I'd fuck him—"

"Gross! Stop, just, stop. Please," I gagged, trying my best not to imagine Em's form of punishment.

He laughed. "I was going to say I'd fuck him up, you fucking pervert." Emmett flicked my ear so that I could straighten up to finish the French braid he was doing from above one eye to the opposite side. He talked to me about how excited he was to see our parents next week before the door rattled.

"Hey! Can I come in?" Riley's voice bellowed from the other side.

"No!" we both answered simultaneously.

"Why?"

"Em's showing me how he puts on his tampon," I snorted, earning another sharp tug at my hair from my brother, who happened to be chuckling.

There was silence on the other side of the door for almost a minute, allowing Em to finish my braid. It's always seemed like a miracle to me how gentle those large hands could be. I've seen them beat the crap out of toms, cymbals, and faces alike. Hours later, they could make the most intricate things to my shoulder blade length hair. My brother is a multi-dimensional son of a bitch.

So… why can't I come in?" Riley's voice mumbled through the door.

I hopped up—as graceful as a log— and threw my arms around my brother, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks," I told him right before he licked his index fingertip and dipped it into my ear. I made a face and swatted his hand away. Unlocking the door, Riley slipped in, clean-shaven, wet haired and alert blue eyes shifting across the small room curiously. I turned around to sit down next to Emmeline, touching the neat strands of hair tucked across my head.

When Riley's eyes landed on me, he made a face. "You look like a girl."

"I am a girl."

Blue eyes narrowed before flickering over to Emmett. "Are you letting her go out like that?"

"You think she listens to me?" Emmett scoffed, throwing an arm over my shoulders. "There's nothing wrong with my Smella."

His compliment makes my insides swim in happiness. It's rare that Em ever compliments anything; usually he's teasing me about every little thing. Sure his wording wasn't _exactly_ telling me I looked nice but for Em's standards, that's as good as I would ever get.

"Is she even old enough to wear make-up?" Riley asked Emmett.

"I'm sitting right here, asshole. Yes I'm old enough to wear make-up." I snickered.

The gentle movement of the bus as it pulled to a stop made us shift slightly. There was loud talking from the front before the familiar sounds of the door opening and the guys getting out, let me know we'd made it to the mall. Slapping my brother's thigh, I told him I'd see them later before walking out. I'd barely jumped out of the bus, slipping the strap of my purse across my shoulder when I saw Edward and the blonde guy whose name I think is Jasper standing right outside.

"Is it only us going?" I asked while walking up to them.

Edward's eyes slanted over in my direction, his mouth already opening in a certain way that let me know a smart ass comment was going to be coming out of his mouth in a moment, but nothing came out. He looked at me—my face, the bare skin of my chest above the purple cotton of my sundress, and then down the length of my body slow, slow, slowly. It made me self-conscious, it made my skin prickle, and I blushed.

"It's just us," the low drawl that I'd rarely heard from the blonde answered me.

I nodded at him before looking back at Edward who was looking at my face again. He smiled at me but it was a distracted, distant sort of look. The entire walk through the parking lot and the mall was surprisingly quiet. Jasper's never really spoken more than a handful of words to me in nearly three weeks and Edward was surprisingly quiet. After buying our movie tickets separately, I nudged my green eyed friend when Jasper said he was going to the restroom.

"Does he not like me?" I asked, gesturing with my head in Jasper's direction.

"Jasper?"

I smirked. "Yeah."

Edward shook his head, keeping his eyes locked on the menu dangling from the ceiling. "He's just quiet. If he didn't like you, you'd know."

I couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that but I figured _yeah, I did._ I was the same way. He didn't say anything else to me as the line ahead of us shortened, and it was really starting to weird me out. I thought we were friends. At least everything had been fine before I'd showered, so the change in his attitude was pretty fucking confusing.

"Are you okay?" I finally tapped into my imaginary balls to ask.

"Yeah. Why?" His lips were tucked behind his teeth.

"You're being really quiet," I answered, fighting the urge to lean into him with my shoulder like I normally would've done. "It's weird."

He shrugged and smiled. "My mind is somewhere else," he said. His light eyes glanced at the neckline of my dress so briefly I almost missed it. But I didn't miss his fingers flutter against the bottom hem of my dress. "You look really nice."

I would've preferred pretty but nice would work. Nice was polite and not at all creepy. I smiled at my friend, the hottest friend I'd ever had in my life. "Thank you." He blinked at me, smiling that distant smile one more time that made me wonder where exactly his mind was. "Want to share a popcorn?"


	14. Chapter 14

My dears! Here's another one. Thank you all for your wonderful supportive words! xoxo

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but the rest of this is mine.

* * *

><p>I learned very quickly that Edward could turn his emotions on and off like a light switch.<p>

"Want some?" he asked me a few minutes after we'd settled into our seats in the theater. His large Sprite teetered off the long fingers in front of me.

I wanted to ask him where that distant face had gone but I thought it was pointless to do it. He'd told me that he was in his own little world and if he didn't want to tell me, then that was fine. I wouldn't push. But I would take his Sprite. Peeling it away from his grasp, I was about to sip from the straw when I decided to take off the lid and just drink from the rim.

Edward scowled at me from the corner of my eye. "Just drink from the goddamn straw."

"Dang bossy," I groaned, putting the lid back on and sipping from the straw. Setting his drink in the cup holder between our seats, he plucked the popcorn from my lap.

Beautiful Edward with a voice that gave me goosebumps every night grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved half of the amount into his mouth. "So good," he moaned through chewing and swallowing.

Jasper hadn't reappeared since we'd left him when he went to the restroom. Edward had sent him a text message to tell him that we'd wait for him inside. Almost at the same time, we both kicked up our legs to rest our feet on the back of the seats in front of us. "Don't eat all of it, fatty."

"You think I'm fat?" Edward gasped, shoving the remaining popcorn into his mouth.

"Obese," I said, eyeing the flat slope of his stomach. "When do you exercise?" I couldn't remember ever seeing him exercise, but I was always seeing him eat.

He mumbled something between a mouthful of popcorn that sounded like, "At night."

"When?"

"Usually during the opening band," he explained. It made perfect sense, I guess. I never saw any of the guys after doors opened since I was stuck on the floor with the exception of a few minutes that one of the guys would come and take over so I could take a break.

My breaks were usually contained to the room that had catering. It was rare that the venues didn't provide us with catering, and I'd lucked out that none of the guys in GG were vegans. "Interesting."

"When do you exercise?" he asked.

I couldn't help but snort. "Never. When I'm home I do, but since tour started, I haven't."

Edward smiled before licking his buttery lips, looking at me intently. "Where do you live?"

"I was living in Seattle, but I've been back home for a couple months now," I answered, trying my best to avoid answering his question.

But he knew, the bastard. "Where's that?"

"Forks."

Those thick, dark eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Almost. "Like… Knives?"

"Yes, douche bag." I laughed.

Edward threw his head back and laughed. "Or Sporks?" he added.

"Shut up. Where do you live?" I asked, taking another sip of his Sprite.

"This little town called Spoons," he cackled until I rolled my eyes, snickering. "I live in Chicago."

"That's cool," I thought for a second. "Aren't we going to be there tomorrow?" I usually had no idea where we were going or even where we were. When you travel by bus from place to place and stay within a couple mile parameter of each venue, you don't get to appreciate the sights of the cities you go to. I'd learned really quickly how touring wasn't the same as traveling. Not by far.

The quick enthusiastic nod he gave me in response made me smile. Excitement radiated through his pores. "Yeah. You can meet my sisters." That beautiful face contorted for a moment before he shook his head. "Or, maybe not."

"Why?"

"Knowing them and you, you guys will end up making me signs with Edna written in glitter," he winked before laughing.

Smacking my forehead with my palm, I groaned a little too loudly. "Why hadn't I thought of that before? Damn it!"

Edward grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand away from my face a couple of inches before smacking my forehead with the meat of my hand again. "Why haven't you?"

Laughing, I pulled my hand away from his hold to smack him in the forehead with my palm. "Idiot."

He grabbed my hand with both of his before closing it into a fist. "Do you think I'm mean to you?"

"Yes," I said it but I really had my attention focused on the fact that he was still holding my hand between his. Did I pull it out? No.

"No, for real," he asked, that husky voice lowering in what I could assume was an attempt to be serious.

I smiled at him, my friend that I'd thought I'd lost for a second just earlier when his mood had seemed to have floated into a different universe. "No. Why would you think that? I like the way we play," I told him because it was the truth. Sure I played around with Em and Riley but that was different. Even my ex didn't like to joke around with me a quarter of as much as Edward did.

"James told me that he thought I was too rough with you. He was mad at me when I gave you that bruise during our soccer death match." His thumb grazed over the knuckles of my hand gently once, just once.

"Nah, I mean you're an asshole for kicking the ball at my face, but you're fine." I told him, watching his pale eyes drift to my chest quickly. "But you bruise my money-maker again, and I'll kick you in the nuts."

We both laughed at the same time that the lights in the theater started dimming and Jasper appeared at the bottom of the stairs, walking up with his hands full. I pulled my hand out of his grasp to grab a handful of popcorn from the bag on his lap.

He raised an eyebrow at me when I stuffed my mouth too but before he could pipe in, I hissed. "If you call me fat, I'll put poison ivy in your bunk." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could accept the fact that I was Emmett's sister without a doubt in my mind.

Edward shrugged before leaning toward me. "If it goes to your ass, I won't say a thing."

The little freak.

* * *

><p>Twitter me: marianazapata_<p>

Blog me: marianazapata(dot)com


	15. Chapter 15

Hi everyone! I want to give my new readers a friendly welcome. A lot of you seemed to have popped up all of a sudden, so if anyone rec'd TGGT, thank them for me :) Anyway, everyone have a nice Easter? I forgot to ask yesterday. Mine was absent of any candy *cries a river* but it was good. Enjoy the chapter and... please don't kill me. I love you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but character traits are mine.

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, Chicago was my favorite city in the world.<p>

After the day I had, it will forever be tarnished by the memory of all the shitty things that happened to me. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it was the worst day of my life, but it felt like it.

When I woke up to cramps that rivaled giving birth—I imagined—I'd hopped out of my bunk as fast as I could. But it wasn't fast enough. My brother of all people had just been getting out of bed at the same time and he happened to see the huge red stain on my ass.

"Holy shit! Bella, your ass is making jam!" he barked, pointing and laughing.

I flicked him off before grabbing my bag and darting into the bathroom to take care of business.

Needless to say, everyone knew I was on my period five minutes later. It was bad enough to deal with the cramps and the back pain, but all that while getting made fun of too? Not cool.

And when the jokes just kept going and going and going from my brother, Riley, and that little twerp named Jake, I lost my fucking marbles and went to hide in my bunk. After I stubbed my fucking toe on the kitchen cabinet.

When I slipped on the last bus step exiting the bus hours later and scraped the shit out of the skin covering my Achilles tendon, I threw a rock at Emmeline when he laughed. Only Edward and James asked me if I was okay, because they're decent human beings. Fucking dip shits—my brother and friends, not the other two.

I felt like life was laughing at me. Spitting in my face when I was bleeding out at a rate that was sure to classify me as anemic in an hour tops. I made my way inside with Jake to the back room so I could check my email on his computer.

Having a brief moment of guilt, Em had texted me and asked if I wanted to grab something to eat with him since there wasn't any catering that day. To be honest, the only reason I agreed to go was because he had my buy-out money on him. Otherwise I would've told him to go suck his nuts. But when I went out to meet him by the bus, I immediately zoned in on my brother's feet.

"Are you wearing Crocs?" it was pretty much screeched from my throat.

It should be noted that Emmett used to wear these black Crocs all the time. It didn't matter whether it was eight degrees outside or 98, he'd wear those damn things everywhere until Riley threw them away a few months ago. They smelled like a dumpster and had so many germs Lysol couldn't kill them all.

Emmett, all two-hundred and thirty pounds stood there, a hand on his hip and one foot pointed in my direction. "I got them yesterday!" he explained with so much enthusiasm I couldn't find it in me to snort.

I shot a look at Riley who was standing behind him frowning.

"Nice, huh?" Em asked, pointing his other foot at me.

Forcing the grimace from my face into a grin, I nodded. "Sure, Em. If you're blind."

"I like them," he huffed, rolling his eyes.

"My mom likes hers too," Riley snorted.

Emmett told us both to fuck off before we started walking around the bus toward some pizza place they'd heard was good. We'd barely made it around the building when a female's voice started yelling from behind. "Hey!"

I turned around to see two women, the one closest to me was tall, blonde, and beautiful, while the other was shorter and had that same distinct shade of reddish-brown hair that Edward had except it was about a hundred times longer than his buzz cut.

"Hi," the one who looked like a female version of Edward piped up. "We're Edward's sisters and we're looking for him. Have you seen him by any chance?" She had that same soft voice that I'd grown to associate with from the singer.

"I haven't seen him in a while," I told her, looking at my brother and Riley to see that they were shrugging also. "Did you try calling him?"

The blonde one huffed. "He's not answering and the shit-face at the door wasn't letting us in the back."

"He knows you're coming too," I told her before thinking twice. Shit. "Well, he told me yesterday you were coming."

The blonde turned to glare at the darker haired one. "That little fucker."

"Rose, he's probably busy," the sister replied before turning her attention back on me. "Do you mind taking us back there, please?"

I nodded before bothering to let Emmett or Riley answer. I figured they'd embarrass themselves. "Bring me something back, Em?" I asked, turning to look in his direction. His dark eyes were wide and focused on the blonde before I poked him in the side so he could agree.

When Riley and Em walked off, I smiled at the two women and waved them in the direction of the back door. "I'm Bella," I said, shaking each of their hands.

The darker haired one winked at the blonde for a second before she introduced herself. "I'm Esme and this is Rosalie. It's nice to meet you, Bella." She smiled that same cute smile Edward was endowed with. "Edna's told us about you."

I stopped walking. "He has?"

The one named Rosalie, with the blonde hair and beautiful face, smirked. "For once in his pathetic life, he only said good things." She frowned. "I don't even think he says good things about me, now that I think about it."

"That's… interesting." I laughed, but it was all sharp edges and awkward.

"Trust me, I know," she replied.

Esme, who was just as pretty as her sister but in a more delicate way, glared at her. "Rose."

She rolled her eyes in response dismissively. Her blue gaze shifted back in my direction, fierceness covered in sugar radiating from her pores, but strangely I didn't feel intimated by her in the least. I flashed my tour laminate in the direction of the big guy at the back door before he waved us in.

"I'm not sure where he is. I haven't seen him since we got off the bus, but he might be in their backstage room," I told them.

Rosalie hissed something at her sister while we walked across the stage to access the two rooms in the back where I figured the guys would be. I opened the door to the room I'd been in before to find Jake on his computer—thankfully he wasn't whacking off like I'd assumed—and he just waved at me. When we got to the second room, the door was wide open. The room was smaller than some of the ones I'd been in in the past, but it wasn't small enough for me to avoid seeing Edward and a redhead sitting together on a loveseat.

With his arm over the top of her shoulders and their temples touching.

I can't even begin to really describe the feeling that flooded my stomach before swimming through my spine, shoulders, and finally head. It was like I wanted to throw up at the same time a migraine set up shop in my cranium. My chest hurt in the blink of an eye, and even though I didn't want to blame it on the intimacy of the moment I'd walked in on, I knew it was.

I took a step back out, fighting the nausea in my gut.

"He's in there," I whispered, clenching my all-of-a-sudden shaky fist.

Esme nodded at me, her expression confused at the weird look I'm sure covered my face. "Thanks, Bella."

"I'll see you guys later," I squeaked before waving at them and turning around to walk as fast as fucking possible away.

What the fuck was wrong with me?


	16. Chapter 16

Hi! If I could do the moonwalk, I would. I didn't get any death threats, so spank you very much. I love your reviews and words so much, you guys have no idea. I know I suck at writing back reviews but I appreciate them a ton. Here's a lengthy one (for my standards). Enjoy! xoxo

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

* * *

><p>When I found out that my ex had another girlfriend less than two weeks after we'd broken up, I was unbelievably pissed. I know for a fact that I wasn't jealous, I was pure, steaming rage in the form of muscle and bone. How the fuck could he be dating someone else after I'd <em>just<em> moved out and he'd _just_ decided that we should live separate lives? It made me feel insignificant and I swore to myself at that moment that I would never let another human being make me feel that way.

So when I beelined for the only quiet place I knew—the merch booth—with shaky fist, a pounding heart, and a weak stomach, I recognized the feeling all too well. I felt unimportant. Discarded. Weak.

I was _jealous_.

Jealous of the redhead who was sitting side by side with Edward. With his arm around her. Touching her face with his. I mean, they could've been friends but I doubted it. I could consider Riley one of my closest friends, and that's saying a lot because I really only shared my life with Alice, and we'd never sat like that. There was an intimacy to the moment and the touches that spoke volumes.

And it made me want to cry.

But I wouldn't.

Edward was my _friend_. I shouldn't have had any feelings for him, much less possessive feelings, but I did. They were just buried deep down inside my gut because obviously I'd been fishing in a river called Da Nile. I liked him. A lot if the awful, shit feelings that were making knots of my nervous system were correct.

When I made it to the merch booth, I found James sitting there with a book and he glanced at me with a curious look on his face. When he asked me if I was okay, I just shrugged and nodded. But James was a nice guy like that, he didn't push me. He shared his gummy bears with me and sat on the same bin, sharing his strength and body warmth.

An hour later, when Emmett came back with a calzone and a coke, he gave me a weird look and asked me if I needed some Midol because I _looked like shit_. I couldn't help but notice how he came to see me during the show more often than usual, which meant he actually came to the back instead of staying backstage or on the bus the whole night.

I couldn't even enjoy the show that night. I shoved my earplugs as deep as they could go and sat down with my arms crossed every chance I got. Of course it was the night that the audience was super fucking chatty and people were talking about Edward every five seconds because it was his hometown.

Fuck you, Chicago. Fuck you in the ass.

I didn't even take a break that night except to go pee and change my pad because I didn't want to deal with anyone.

I thought my night would be over the moment I finished packing up our shit and helping James load it. But God wanted to turn that silver dagger in my gut one last time.

"We're going to eat, Smella," Emmeline told me as soon as I'd walked into the bus.

I frowned because I was feeling like that much of a bitch. "I'm not hungry."

The look he shot me with could've melted wax. "You? Aren't hungry? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Leave it to Emmett to actually pay attention every once in a while. I didn't give him enough credit. My brother knew me. He was a lot smarter and kinder than he looked inside of his rusted heart. If there was anyone Em would move Kilimanjaro for, it would be me.

If I lied to him completely and said that nothing was wrong, he would know. So I went with the next best thing: a partial lie. "I'm just moody and grumpy, Em."

"Hmm," he narrowed his eyes. "Well, you're eating. Otherwise, I'm going to have to listen to you whine in a couple hours about how hungry you are." He looked at me for another second before pulling me onto the seat next to him, throwing his heavy-ass arm over my shoulders.

I didn't even care that he smelled or that he was sweaty, so I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Tuning out everyone getting on the bus, I felt it start moving but I stayed in my spot, appreciating the rare chance that my brother was both quiet and comforting. The next thing I knew, the bus was stopping again and we were loading out at some diner. The Red Mile happened to get out first, followed by whoever else GG had ridden back with.

A warm hand grasped my shoulder while we walked in and I turned to see that it was Riley looking at me with concerned sapphire eyes. "Not feeling good?"

"Not really," I gave him a little smile.

I didn't want to look behind me but because I'm an idiot, I did. I spotted Edward in the parking lot with both of his sisters and the redhead, making their way in. My stomach fluttered again and I turned around to wait for the waitress to join two large tables together for all of us to sit.

"Did you see Em trip getting offstage tonight?" Riley asked, rooted in his spot next to me.

Under normal circumstances, I would've laughed my ass off and been pissed that I missed him embarrassing himself but it was a testament to the green-eyed bitch in my stomach that I could barely smile. "No."

He frowned and yanked on the end of my sweaty ponytail really fucking hard until I yelped. "I don't like seeing you like this. Quit it."

"You dick," I groaned, rubbing the spot where my hair was tied back. "I hope your razor yanks a couple pubes out the next time you shave down there." I muttered.

Riley laughed. "There's my bride."

Just like that, I told myself to ignore the feeling in my stomach and I did. I rolled my eyes at him and sat down between him and Emmett with James, Jake, and that Felix guy across from us. I saw Edward sit down on the same side as me, only three seats down—I may or may not have noticed that he pulled out the chair next to him for the redhead. I ordered my food and tried to focus on the conversation around me, absorbing the laughs that exploded out of my brother and Felix. At one point I turned to see Edward leaning over the table looking at me but luckily Emmeline leaned over a split second later and blocked his view.

When I got up to use the restroom after finishing my food, I steeled my eyes on the television ahead of me so I could focus on that and not the people I was walking passed. I used the toilet and was washing my hands when Esme and Rosalie came into the small bathroom.

"Hi."

"Will you wait for me?" Rosalie asked before dodging into one of the stalls.

It's not like I could tell her no when she'd already gone in, so I dried my hands and waited for her to come out. Esme was the first, shooting me a smile before talking. "I didn't see you during the show."

"Oh, I was all the way in the back. I sell merchandise for my brother's band," I explained to her. "Were you backstage?"

She shook her head. "Nah, Rose flashed her boobs at a guy so we could get front row. We don't like watching backstage."

"That shit is boring," Rosalie piped up from the stall. "We actually like watching Edward perform unlike—"

"Rose!"

"What?" she moaned out before flushing the toilet. Five seconds later, she opened the stall, rolling her eyes. "I don't like that cunt muscle, you know that."

There was no way I couldn't laugh at her use of the word _cunt muscle_ as an insult. Especially if she was using it to refer to the redhead. The possibility that she could be a very nice girl ran through my head but I tripped it.

Rosalie's blue eyes settled on mine in the reflection of the mirror while she washed her hands. "My sister likes to think the best of everyone, but I don't." She sighed for a moment. "I'll let you get back to eating but—," I thought for one split second she might give me some reassurance about her brother possibly having feelings for me. That she would tell me to give him time to get his head out of his ass but then again, I didn't realize I liked him until I saw him sitting with the other girl. How could I expect him to notice that he liked me? He didn't. He didn't pull out chairs for me, or sit real close to me like that. "Is your brother single?"

Any hope I had crashed and burned a bloody, hot death.

I smirked at her because I couldn't muster a smile. "He is, but I like you, so I'd like to warn you that he's an idiot," then I thought better of it, "but I love him."

She nodded at me before I ducked out of the bathroom, heading back to the table. Just like before, I trained my eyes on the wall ahead of me so that I wouldn't look down when I passed Edward's seat. Was I being immature? Maybe a little, but I didn't care. The warm, firm grasp on my forearm stopped me right when I saw the short hair out of my peripheral view.

"Bella," his low voice murmured, tightening his grip on my arm.

It took everything in me to swallow the bile that had mysteriously appeared in my stomach before I looked at him. "Hey."

Those pale green eyes flickered over my face, which I knew was smudged with eyeliner and probably greasy from how much I'd sweated that day. My hair was in a messy ponytail and I had stains on my shirt. "I want you to meet my friend, Tanya," he said, watching me swallow hard again.

"Hi," I told the redhead once I'd pulled my arm loose of Edward's grasp to look at his _friend_. Being so close, I noticed how fake the red color in her hair was. The first person I could think of was fucking Ronald McDonald.

"Hi," she replied, blinking her big eyes in my direction.

And then it was just fucking awkward until I pointed down the table. "I'm gonna go finish eating. It was—," I almost choked on my words because I was terrible liar, "nice meeting you."

I didn't even bother waiting for her to say anything to me before I was back in my seat, feeling like a complete fool. I knew how unrealistic it had been for me to say that I'd never have feelings for another man because I didn't want the drama associated with a breakup ever again, but this was ridiculous. I felt betrayed and I shouldn't have. I was just a girl Edward had met and got along with because we were locked in a bus on a trip together. My stupid fucking heart sucked and strained in its cage while I sat there and felt miserable.

I didn't speak to Edward for a week.


	17. Chapter 17

FFn was being total fail earlier, so an apology goes out to my lovely Twitter friends who I'd promised an early update to. Thank you all for your sweet reviews. I love them! There's no greater inspiration for writing than you guys' words.

Just a tiny side note to my new readers who aren't used to my writing/characters. I don't always go with the flow of canon, okay? Besides E/B being together everything else is free to be molded in any/every way ;) Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but everything besides their names is mine.

* * *

><p>I spent an entire week living like a hermit.<p>

My bunk and the back room of the bus became my best friends over the course of seven days. Emmett thought that I wasn't feeling well on top of my period, and I let them all believe that. I mean, I was usually somewhat of a grumpy bitch when my monthly friend visited me, but this week had set the bar for a new standard. I was raging when I wasn't mopey about nothing and everything in general.

Riley and Em kept an eye on me but gave me space. A couple times during the week, I heard Edward in his bunk whispering, "Bella? Are you awake?"

Yeah, I was awake. No, I didn't want to talk to him.

In hindsight, after my hormones had stopped their vicious attack in my body, I realized that I was being a total bitch. I went out of my way to avoid Edward and when I saw an indicator that he wanted to come and talk, I'd do something so that he couldn't. I know that it was immature, but I felt so disappointed in myself that I didn't have the heart to want to talk to him.

On the seventh day, the day after my period ended and the same day I'd get to see Alice for the first time in four weeks, I was in a fucking fabulous mood. I'd showered that morning, put on some skinny jeans and one of my nicer shirts, and asked my brother to braid my hair for me. I swear to God it's like a weight is lifted off your shoulders once my inner serial killer went on vacation for three weeks. It must have been pretty apparent I was back to normal because even Jake said something to me about how he was glad I was feeling better.

It shouldn't have been a surprise when I went into the bunk area to stash my bag that I heard the door open and felt a hand grasp my shoulder. Turning around, I saw the pale green eyes first.

"Hey," Edward said, dropping his hand to his side.

"Hey," I told him, shutting the curtain on my bunk. I didn't know what to say or even how to act now that I'd both come to terms with the fact that I liked him, that he didn't feel that way toward me, and that I finally wasn't letting the worst of my emotions dictate me.

He looked at me for a moment silently. "Are you mad at me?" he asked in a lowered voice.

I felt a slab of guilt at how I'd blatantly avoided him, but then I thought about him and the redhead on the couch and that gross feeling in stomach flooded my insides again. "No. Why would I be?"

"You haven't talked to me at all." He hesitated for a moment. "Every time I look at you, you look away. I thought maybe it was just because you weren't feeling well," he continued, dipping his hands into the front pockets of his basketball shorts. "Is it stupid if I tell you that I've missed you?"

I shook my head.

"It's been pretty boring without you," he added.

I smiled at him and shrugged. I don't know why I felt so… _hopeless_, but I did. I wanted to absorb his words and take them to heart but a larger part of me didn't want that. What was the point? I filled a void. As much as I wanted to be level-headed about it and take what I could get, it wasn't that easy for me. My mom had always said that I took things to heart, that I felt too much. Once I got my mind set on something, if I couldn't have it then I didn't want anything else to try and replace it.

Maybe I didn't give Edward enough credit for having gotten to know me at least a little because he didn't look like he completely believed me. But he was trying to reach out to me. "Are your friends coming to see you today?"

I wanted to puke at the word _friend_ because we must have different definitions of the word. My friend was five foot one, weighed about a hundred pounds, and only sat close to me on the couch when we watched scary movies. "Yeah, my best friend still lives in Seattle so we're catching up."

"I'm sure you'll be in a better mood after seeing her," he said. "I was happy to see my sisters last week."

"And your friend too, I bet," the words came out of my mouth like bad diarrhea.

He nodded. "Yeah, we had a lot we needed to talk about," it was impossible not to notice that his voice carried a hint of something different. I'm not sure what but the words seemed loaded.

My chest burned, but I forced myself to nod, thinking about the female Ronald McDonald briefly. She was pretty, sure. But I didn't care. Em happened to scream my name from the living area right then, so I flashed Edward a smile before making my way around him. When I'd barely passed him, he grabbed a hold of my forearm to stop me.

"Don't do that to me again, okay? I really did miss you."

I nodded at him, not trusting the rusty, unsure words on the tip of my tongue. A couple of hours later, when we'd stopped at the venue, I elbowed Jake out of the way so I could be the first one out. Alice had texted me to let me know she was already there and sure enough, I spotted her making her way over.

Short, skinny, with a face that any model would kill for, and a smile that took up her entire face, my best friend wrapped her arms around my middle the second we were close enough. There was something about Alice's hugs and warmth, something deep within her that radiated understanding and comfort, always. I loved Alice, and even though I would never ask for another sibling to replace Emmeline, I loved Alice fiercely, almost as much as Em.

She pulled away from me before she began signing.

_I've missed you so much._

"I've missed you, too," I told her before giving her another bone-crushing hug. Looking her over, I noticed that her hair was shorter than normal. "I like your hair."

_Thank you but don't change the subject. Which guy is the one that you—_

Her hands stalled in midair at the same time she went a little bug-eyed. I turned my head just a little to see who she was looking at it, but Edward, Jasper, and Felix had all gotten off the bus and were looking in our direction intently.

_The blonde?_

I shook my head and signed because there was no way in hell I was going to tell her out loud which one was Edward. After our last conversation via FaceTime I'd told her all about my new crush and she'd gobbled it up like a hooker would a cock. _The one with short hair._

She nodded and shot them a smile. The little slut. Alice had no issues about her supposed "handicap." There was nothing that she couldn't do because of her hearing impairment. Alice had grown up with a deaf father and a mom who was deaf and mute; it wasn't a surprise to her parents that she'd been born with severe deafness in both ears and an aversion to speaking. But Mr. and Mrs. Brandon raised their little girl to think she was invincible, and she'd grown up thinking and believing the same. Technology had gotten a lot better since her parents were young and she'd gotten a cochlear implant in one ear and an aid in the other. Paired with a talent for lip-reading and speech therapy, she only talked when she wanted to and got through her life just fine.

_You bitch! You travel with all these hot guys?_

I nodded and laughed.

_What are you waiting for? Introduce me._

I had a feeling that my plans of spending one-on-one time with Alice had just been sharted out.


	18. Chapter 18

Hello, hello! Here's another update. We're rolling along slowly but surely. Thank you guys for your kind words, I love your reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this shit is mine.

* * *

><p>I didn't realize how much of a shameless whore my best friend was before today.<p>

What had begun as excitement over seeing and spending time with Alice had quickly spiraled into something that reminded me of a bird's mating call. I'd known Alice for eight years, and I was pretty certain that I knew her like the back of my hand. I could tell you all of her favorite foods, her pet peeves, what size and styles her clothes were, and even what kind of tampons she preferred.

And I knew without a doubt that the little bitch _hated_ to talk.

Apparently, for the cute blonde guitar player in Golden Giants, she was a little songbird. The girl who spoke _maybe_ fifteen words a day—maximum—had spoken fifteen words in a minute. The girl who taught me sign language when we realized that we liked NSYNC and hated the Backstreet Boys, that our favorite color was yellow, and she'd all too willingly trade her ham and cheese sandwiches for my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Alice taught me a lifetime worth of sign language in months because we both wanted our to talk to each other more effortlessly than through passing notes. She'd told me in the past that she didn't like speaking because of the tone of her voice, because she knew it didn't sound as smooth as "everyone else's did."

So when I found myself crammed into a booth with Alice next to me and Felix beside her, with Edward and Jasper across from us, I couldn't help but be amazed that she was giggling her butt off.

They traded compliments back and forth for a good fifteen minutes before it started to get a little ridiculous. I almost rolled my eyes when I heard her tell Jasper, "I like your jacket."

Jasper smiled. "Thank you."

"Bella, do you like my jacket?" Edward asked suddenly, leaning over the table with a big, fat smirk on his face. It was impossible not to notice how Alice and the blonde were going all googley-eyed for each other. It kind of made me sick.

For the shortest moment, I thought about continuing my bitch spree but that wouldn't be fair or nice. It wasn't Edward's fault that he was unspeakably cute and likeable, right? My hormones were in check again and even though I was disappointed that he didn't like me, I didn't need to be a twat-rocket around him any longer. And how could I not tease Alice when given the opportunity? So I batted my eyelashes at him and smirked. "I love your jacket. It looks so nice on your _big,_ _broad_ shoulders."

For the record, he only had a plain, black hoodie on over his _big, broad shoulders_.

"Thank you," he responded in a lowered voice, snickering. "Your earrings look so nice on your little, chunky earlobes."

I threw my head back and laughed, pressing a fingertip against the plastic of my studs. "Oh, thank you!"

Alice groaned from her spot next to me at the same time the buzzer on the table went off, signaling that our order was ready.

"You're such a hooker," I laughed in her face when all three guys got up to either grab our food from the counter or go pee.

Her deep gray eyes crinkled in amusement. "He's dreamy," she said loudly, unintentionally.

"I bet you're going to be getting a whole lot of dreamy tonight," I winked at her.

Alice blushed. "He's nice."

Jasper was nice. I'd met so many people over the years that treated my best friend like she had some sort of mental disability instead of a hearing impairment. Her brain worked quicker than anyone else's I knew, so I took it personally when people spoke to her like she was missing half her box of crayons. Jasper, though, treated Alice like she was just another girl he'd met—with me as the exception because he didn't really speak to me—and it made me really happy and relieved. Those blue eyes were enraptured with my little cutie.

I willingly played along with being her wing wo-man tonight.

Well, kind of. I was more of a supervising shadow while she flirted nonstop. Shameless. Completely fucking shameless.

It wasn't until after we'd made it back from the restaurant we'd eaten at that I got a moment of free time with her. The guys had an interview that they needed to do so we had a little while together in the front of the bus. I introduced her to James as he made his way out.

_Are you speaking to him again?_ The lazy be-otch signed.

I got up to make sure that we had the bus to ourselves before answering her. "He talked to me this morning," I told her, waggling my eyebrows. "He said he missed me and that I shouldn't ignore him again."

Her eyes went wide. _He likes you._

I shook my head.

_I'm deaf not blind. He kept looking at you throughout lunch. I know that look._

I shrugged, not thinking of anything else I could do that was appropriate.

Alice rolled her eyes, sighing. _You are a pain in the ass. _

"Oh please, like you're one to talk." I laughed.

_Why don't you just ask him if that girl is his girlfriend?_

"He said it was just a friend."

_A friend with benefits?_

I scowled at her while trying not to gag. "I don't know."

_So don't get all bent out of shape until you know for sure. I think he likes you. You like him too even if you get all pissed off because of it. Don't be a bitch to him. He's nice._

I knew that there was truth to her words. I couldn't really be a bitch to him just because I was mad he couldn't return my feelings. Feelings that I didn't want. But I mean, how could I not like Edward? He was unbelievably hot, sweet, and just plain goofy. Reminding myself why I liked him wasn't helping the situation any.

But still. "You know who else is nice? Your dad," I snorted.

She slapped her hand over my mouth while frowning. When she pulled it away she signed, _Gross. I love you and I want you to be happy._

"I am happy."

_You know what I mean._

I nodded and smiled at her.

When she grinned and put up her hands to sign _What else do you know about Jasper?_ I knew tonight was going to be a long night.

And hours later, when I was sitting behind the merch booth with Alice and Em texted me, **Do u want to take the rest of the nite off?**

My prediction was confirmed.

* * *

><p>I just got a request from one of the only people I can't say no to for an EPOV. *groans* Who else is on that boat?<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

Hi guys! Just a couple of things:

1) Thank you all for your wonderful words and reviews, I love them! Promise I'll get to responding soon!

2) The majority requested an EPOV so... it'll happen soon but on my terms. *muahaha*

3) A couple of people have asked about this form of touring. As a few of you know, my boyfriend is a professional musician. This is the kind of life I'm all too familiar with, and I'm not pulling 95% of this out of my butt.

Okay, that's it. Enjoy! Slightly longer as we keep choo-choo-chooing along.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but the rest of this is mine.

* * *

><p>My dad told me once that I was going to end up in jail for a night at some point in my life.<p>

I thought for sure it was going to be the day that Alice and I went and threw eggs at her ex-boyfriend's car, but it didn't happen. Then there was the night that I ran a red light, and I thought I'd get pulled over because I'm paranoid like that. And then there was the day that I went to Walmart and completely forgot that I had a pack of sodas in the bottom of the shopping cart, and I walked out with it.

But the moment that I saw my ex with his new girlfriend, sitting in the bus that I lived in—I was absolutely convinced that _that_ day would be the one.

I knew something was going on when Emmett had texted me, asking if I wanted to take the night off. Riley, Jake, and him loved their fans a lot, but selling merch was something that none of them were particularly fond of. They couldn't get anything done because people wanted to talk to them more than they wanted to actually buy anything.

When I sent Riley and Jake both messages and didn't get a response, my gut feeling was confirmed. Those two bitches kept their phones on them like the end of the world would be set into motion if they missed a call or a text message. I asked James to watch the table while Alice and I tried our best to get through the crowd without having to elbow too many people. I'd barely made it to the back when I saw Jake pacing outside of their backstage room.

His dark, nearly black eyes, widened when he saw me approaching. "Are you leaving?" he asked, scratching his eyebrow with a single index finger.

I shook my head in response. "No. What's going on?"

"Nothing," the son of a bitch answered too quickly. He was worse at lying than I was.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Jacob."

He winced and sighed in defeat. The man was the easiest person in the universe to break. I would never trust him with a secret because he'd crack in no time. "Tyler is here."

I think that if I would've heard those words two months ago, I probably would have gone on a ballistic spree, breaking things while on a war path to destroy his face—wherever it was. But surprisingly, I didn't have the slightest urge. I mean, what kind of nerve did he have coming to a show he _knew_ my brother was playing at? I never took Tyler to be that much of a dumb ass, but I guess I misjudged him. I didn't want to see his face and I definitely didn't understand his nerve.

But this was my "house." My family. My place, and I sure as fuck wasn't going to let him make me cower in hopes that I wouldn't see him. I'd given him so much power over my life in the months immediately after we broke up, that I would never give him, or anyone, again. I hope.

Fuck. That.

I nodded at Jake and even smiled. "Okay."

Alice started whacking my arm, searching my eyes for the schizophrenic I think she assumed would want to come out to play under normal circumstances. _Are you okay?_

The shrug and nod that I replied with were laced and reinforced with assurance and belief in myself. I was fine and that fucker would learn just how fine I was.

Waving her over, I made a beeline for the Golden Giants back room, knowing that they were probably the reason why Tyler was there. He hated going to shows. When I made it to the room, I only found Edward and Jasper in there warming up. Edward had headphones on, while singing to himself in the corner of the room. Jasper on the other hand, had his guitar in his lap and plugged into his Roland micro-cube amp. When Jasper saw me and Alice standing there, he waved us in.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked and I couldn't help but feel some strange sort of satisfaction that he was sort-of-kind-of speaking to me now because of the midget next to me.

"We're looking for someone, I think," Alice answered, eyeing me for confirmation.

I nodded. "Do you know some guy named Tyler?" I asked him.

Edward, I guessed, heard us talking and turned around while lowering his headphones. The expression on his face was one of pure curiosity.

"The guitar player in Danger Fire?" Jasper asked me.

It was an immediate response to want to gag at the mention of that suck-ass band but I held it back. "Yeah."

"I think he's in the bus with Felix and Eleazar," Jasper replied. Eleazar was the name of the bass player of the band.

Edward's lips twitched. "Do you know him?"

I swear I couldn't help but snicker. "Yeah. I do." I turned to look at Alice who made a face because I could only assume she was aware of my plan to go confront him. "Just stay here. I won't be long."

_Are you sure? _She asked.

I nodded. "I'll be right back."

I'd barely made it three steps out of the room when I felt Edward's hand on my elbow, tugging me toward him. His eyes were wary. "Why do I feel like you're about to go do something bad?"

"Because I am," I chuckled, pulling him in return so we could keep walking. "I'm kidding. I swear, I'm not going to do anything bad. I just need to go talk to him for a minute."

His eyes swept across my face. "Are you guys friends?"

It seemed like one of those moments that are straight déjà vu. More or less, weren't those same words the ones that had come out of my mouth when I'd asked him about Ronalda McDonald? The only difference being this douche bag _wasn't_ my friend. Maybe, even though I'd tried to move past my frustration with my crush on Edward, if there was even a fleck of anything toward me, I wanted to goad it out of him. "He's my ex-boyfriend."

"That guy is your ex?" he asked after a brief pause.

"Yep."

"But you're not friends?" He raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head. I should've focused on the fact that he was so insistent on asking if me and my ex were friends or not, but I didn't. "No. I'd beat my own ass if we were friends."

Edward smiled at me, this big, grand smile that could've lit up Main Street at DisneyLand. "I'd help you beat your ass if you wanted."

"I'm sure you would," I smiled. It didn't hit me until that moment that I'd missed talking and joking around with Edward. Maybe we were only friends because of our circumstances, but maybe, just maybe, we weren't.

The security guard in the back winked at me as we made our way out of the back door toward the bus. Edward grabbed my forearm that time, easily matching my quick stride with his natural, normal one.

"What _exactly_ are you planning on doing when you see him?"

"Ask him what the hell he's doing here." I think.

His large, warm hand tightened its grip. "Were you two together for a long time?"

"Three years," I muttered, reaching for the door handle to the bus before flinging it open. I don't think I've ever ran up those two steps faster than I did right then, but I heard the voices in the bus before I'd even landed on the first one.

"—get the fuck out," I recognized Emmett's voice immediately.

"It's not a big deal—," the voice I hadn't heard in months greeted me in return when I made it to the top of the steps. The curtain was pulled close so I couldn't see them at first.

"I always knew you were fucking stupid. How is you being here not a big deal? Bella's here, pickle dick!" I don't think I'd ever loved Emmett more than I did in that moment, standing on the top of the stairs with Edward's warm body directly behind me. He was talking so loudly it could've been considered yelling, but I knew that Emmett only genuinely yelled when he was excited about something, and he was definitely not excited to see Tyler Crowley.

"I invited them out," the voice I recognized as Felix's deep one spoke up.

"Tyler, get out. I don't want to see you, and Bella doesn't want to see you either." I swear to God my brother growled. "Go hide or die, I don't give a shit. Otherwise, I'm going to take a shit on your face right after I knock you out for breaking up with my fucking sister over the phone, mangina."

Edward poked me in the back at that moment, chuckling quietly and I couldn't help but snort a little too. Leave it to Emmett to come up with that.

"Bella's a big girl, _Emmeline."_

I couldn't even ask for any clarification on whether I'd heard him correctly. Because I did. This fucker just called my Em by the nickname only I could use. If I wasn't going to murder him for simply _being close by, _I was now going to do it for messing with Emmett. Nobody messes with my brother except me.

Pulling the curtain aside, I saw my ex sitting on the long couch I preferred with his arm draped around a pretty blonde. What struck me first was the fact that the bastard had on a shirt I'd bought him for Valentine's Day. Seriously?

"Bella," Tyler said with widened eyes.

"Tyler."


	20. Chapter 20

Hi, hi, hi. Thank you all for your sweet words, I love them! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, blah, blah, blah, but this shit is mine. You steal it, I hurt you.

* * *

><p>It was only when I felt Edward's fingertips dip into the band of my jeans, brushing at the small of my back, that I calmed down enough to think rationally.<p>

I'd thought about what I wanted to happen to Tyler about a million times. Everything from hooking up with a transvestite, to losing his dick in a gun battle, had waged its war through my head. I didn't hate him, really, but he would always and forever have a spot on my Shit List. But when I felt my new friend tug on the back of my jeans, I realized that I wasn't the same person that I'd been a few months back. Even a month back.

Though the flesh and the flakes that comprised my shell of skin were the same, I felt stronger than before. I didn't need Tyler, and I really was better off without him. We'd had a good relationship but in hindsight, he wasn't the kind of man I'd want to be with forever. He'd loved me, I think, but it wasn't enough to erase the fact that I'd always been second—sometimes third or fourth—in his life after his shitty ass band. I was happy now, regardless of whether the man behind me grounding me to rationality, liked me in return or not, I was genuinely happy.

But I still wanted his ass torn up by a dozen porn stars.

"Let's go outside," I told my ex in a voice so calm I didn't know where it came from.

His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Go outside with me, Ty," I said, indicating with my head toward the exit. "We should talk."

Those dark eyes that I'd loved once narrowed in my direction. He knew me, he knew that even if I was calm, he'd crossed the fucking line. His blonde girlfriend tugged at his hand as she shook her head.

I shot my brother a smirk, he was standing there with a flushed face and rigid jaw. All signs of the devil inside of him waiting to burst out and destroy. "C'mon, Tyler. Let's go. I'll only take a minute."

"Baby—," the girl whined softly.

I'd never been clingy with him and maybe that was my mistake in our relationship, but I couldn't find it in me to care anymore. If Tyler had wanted to talk to someone, talk to one of his fans, I'd never cared. I figured if he wanted to cheat on me he would any time he wanted and there was nothing I could do about it. But this bitch was going to learn that now that we weren't together, I definitely didn't want his pimply-butt ass. "I don't want his pickle dick." I looked at Emmett when I said it. "I just want to talk to him for a minute, and I don't want to embarrass him in front of everyone."

Edward tugged at the back of my pants again, his fingers dipping deeper into the area between the denim and my panties. "Bella—," he warned.

"I didn't know you'd be here," Tyler cut off Edward. "I figured I could avoid—"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He thought he could avoid Emmett? Oh, please. "I don't care," I piped in, in a sing-song voice. "Get out of the fucking bus and talk to me. You owe me."

He knew he did and I didn't bother waiting to see him get up. I glanced over at Emmett, who was clenching his fists together and staring at Tyler like he could kill him by looks alone. I didn't even need to take a deep breath as I passed Edward on the way out, circling his wrist quickly with my thumb and index finger as best as I could. I didn't meet his eyes but it wasn't because I was embarrassed that he'd learned that I'd been dumped, much less over the phone. It happens to every girl. Maybe without the phone part. I just didn't need the reminder that he was not only carved by God's hand, but that he also cared about me enough to follow me through this.

In no time, Tyler was tumbling out of the bus after me, closing the door behind him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his dark eyes boring into mine. "Bella, I'm—"

"Shut the hell up." I walked up to him and stopped. "I didn't say anything when you called me and said that you didn't think we were working out anymore. I didn't say anything when you asked me to move out and I had to pack up my shit and go live with Alice until school finished. And I definitely didn't say anything when I found out that you were dating someone else right after you broke up with me."

I poked the shit out of his chest with my finger. "But I will cut your balls off with my eyebrow trimmers if you ever talk to Emmett like that again. Leave me and my brother alone. You walked out of my life, and I don't ever want to see you again. _He_ doesn't ever want to see you again and you better believe that the only reason your face is still intact is because I found you."

"I'm sorry, babe," he said quietly. " I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

I shrugged because how else could I respond? "I don't care anymore, Tyler. But I want you and your girlfriend to get out of the fucking bus. Go watch the show from wherever you want but just stay away from us."

He opened his mouth to say something else but he must have seen the look on my face because he closed it. Nodding, Tyler looked away. I took a second just to look at the guy I'd been with for three years. Tyler was good-looking and tall and pretty lean, but now, I didn't look at him the same way that I used to. He wasn't half as hot as Riley, much less a fraction of Edward. A part of me wanted to focus on everything that he _wasn't_, but there wasn't a point.

I sucked in a breath and smiled at his direction. "Bye, fuck face."

When I pivoted around to head back toward the building, I made the mistake of looking up at the windows of the bus to see my brother and Edward with their faces pressed up against the glass, and I laughed before walking away.

The rest of the night went by pretty uneventfully. Alice stayed with Jasper until he played, and then she joined me behind the merch table. She stood up on top of one of the bins to see better, and kept slapping my shoulder when he would do something she liked—which was every hip thrust and I swear she got excited just watching him blink. It was a slower night than usual so I had a lot of time to watch their set. Edward moved across the stage with so effortlessly and with so much energy it was electric. Even if he wouldn't have the most striking face I'd ever seen, it would've been impossible to keep my eyes away from him. Edward was a performer in his blood.

And most importantly, he was my friend.

At some point in the middle of their set, when he usually got chatty with the audience, telling them some short story about the road or his life, I realized that if anything—Fancy Pants, in his black pants, light blue button-up, and skinny, navy tie—was a loyal bastard.

"Do you know what I hate, guys?" he asked the roaring audience in front of him. They screamed all kinds of things in response.

"Pussy!"

Edward shook his head and pointed in the direction of where the person had screamed. "Nope. I like that."

"Dub-step!"

He nodded but then shook his head. "I fucking hate that, but there's something else."

I couldn't help but snicker because I hated dub-step too, and Tyler's band was one of the groups that spread that shit around. How much more perfect would it be for the audience to talk shit and Edward to agree?

A couple other people screamed other random things until he waved them off, pressing the microphone really close to his face like he was going to tell the thousand plus people in the audience a secret. He held up one finger, which he pointed straight forward, almost as if he was pointing at me in the back.

"Pickles," he screamed, and then extended his middle finger, still pointing straight out. "And dicks!" The loud bang of the bass drum picked up, signaling the start of another song.

I almost pissed my pants from laughing so hard.


	21. Chapter 21

**Kinda, sorta short, but hey! I'm posting often! Yes? Yes. I love your reviews and your enthusiasm more than any of you could ever imagine. THANK YOU!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. You know this.**

I was in love with the world and with the men in my life the rest of the night.

Why didn't anyone tell me that being loved and cared for—albeit in a strange way—could be so awesome? I felt like someone pointed a wand at me and cast a spell on me that was all rainbows and unicorns. My brother called Tyler a mangina, and then Edward called him out in front of a thousand people. What more could I ask for?

As soon as James and I got done loading the dolly with our crap and tearing everything down, we made our way out of the venue. Alice had left a few minutes before, explaining that she had to be up early for some class she was teaching at the local youth center. With a flurry of hugs and promises to call me the next day—and Jasper's phone number in her contact book—I said goodbye to my best friend for the next two months.

We'd only be back in the states for a day after Australia before leaving for Europe.

I saw Emmett first, standing with his back to me while loading his drum cases into the massive trailer. With three long steps, I launched myself on top of his back, wrapping my arms around his neck to kiss his cheek. "I love you," I told him, pinching his cheek.

"Fuck, I'd love you if you lost ten pounds before jumping on my back again," he huffed, hoisting me up higher on his back.

"Whatever," I muttered, pinching his cheek again. "Thanks for standing up for me, Emmeline."

"Someone's gotta do it, Smella. Me and Ri paper-rock-scissored it, and I lost."

It hit me right then that I hadn't seen Riley all night. He'd gone out of his way to ignore my text messages but then he also hadn't been on the bus when the Pickle-Dick incident went down. I know that son of a bitch. There's no way he would have just sat back and done nothing. "Wait. What did he do if he won?"

I could feel the rumble of my brother's laughter from underneath me. "I think it's better that you don't know just in case the cops ask."

"Em!"

A hand smacked my ass really hard, making me yelp. Not surprisingly, Riley stopped right next to us, smirking. "That's my payment for tonight."

"What did you do?" I hissed, but really I was obscenely interested in what he'd done. I'd gladly trade my ass to find out.

He shrugged. "Let's just say Tyler is going to need three new tires and a car wash."

Emmett laughed again, turning us around so that my ass was in front of Riley one more time before he slapped it even harder than the first time. I jumped off, rubbing my butt in hopes the sting would wear down, and then called them both dicks. Grabbing my clean clothes from the compartment beneath the bus, I could hear yelling from inside. Since I didn't know who it was, and I definitely didn't want to make it awkward by getting inside in the middle of an argument, I waited until the voices lowered.

Getting in, I saw Felix and Eleazar sitting in the living area looking pissed off, the frowns they shot my way were anything but nice. Weird. Walking toward the back area, I found Edward and Jasper in the bunk space, going through their backpacks quietly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it'd been them and the two in the living area who were fighting just a minute before. It was my fault—well, Tyler's for being an idiot—that'd it happened.

"I'm sorry," I told him from the door.

Edward's gray-green eyes shot over to me. His facial expression softened and he shook his head. "Don't worry about it." His cheeks pulled up into that crooked smile that made my insides turn too goo. "It was worth it."

"It _was_ pretty fucking awesome," I laughed. "Thank you."

He shrugged but kept those hypnotic eyes on me. "Anytime, Princess."

I rolled my eyes before throwing my arms around his chest, hugging him. It took him all of two seconds to realize what I was doing before he wrapped his arms over my shoulders, squeezing me to him tightly. I didn't care that he was sweaty, that his shirt was drenched and clinging to him like a second, wet skin, and obviously he didn't care that I'm sure my hair smelled like day old socks, because he hugged me for a minute that seemed to stretch ages and eons. This was my friend, my friend who got into an argument with people he had a more important relationship than the one we had, and he didn't care.

Suddenly, I felt terrible.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch last week," I told, pressing my cheek against his damp chest.

"It's all right. I know some girls go psycho on their periods or cry all the time," the big bastard chuckled into my ear.

I stiffened before snorting, loud and clear. "So which one are you?"


	22. Chapter 22

****Hello pretties! Thank you all for your kinds words and encouragement. There's no better motivation than your kick-ass reviews! Anyway, this is one of my favorite chapters but I'm not entirely sure why. Enjoy!****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, fart, fart, fart, but Bandward is mine.**

James and I high-fived each other the moment we finished loading up our bins onto the dolly. Tonight had been the last show of the North American tour and we were all in a great mood. The Red Mile had sold close to five grand in merch, which meant I'd made five hundred dollars, so I could only imagine how much money James had made. It must have been enough that my quiet, pensive friend was grinning from ear to ear and telling me he loved touring.

It didn't matter that I'd tired, bored, and over the last few days hornier than a virgin at a strip club since I hadn't played any one-on-one games with myself—I was relieved and excited that this leg of touring was complete. And I had _money_, bitches. I'd spent so little while over the last month because we really never did anything over the last thirty-five days, probably since we'd only gotten two days off total. The money I got from buy-outs, if the venue didn't cater, was more than enough for me to buy lunch and groceries for breakfast and dinner.

We were going to have three days off between tonight and when we left for Australia. The bus was driving us to Los Angeles, where we'd have two days to do nothing, and then we'd be gone.

"Do you want to go shower while I load up?" James asked as we passed by the back area where the dressing rooms were.

The venue had showers—thank you, Vegas—and we'd all agreed to shower before we got on the bus. Supposedly, The Golden Giants record label was stationed in Vegas and they were throwing an end-of-the-tour party at some bar or club. I wasn't much of a drinker so it's not like I was excited about it, but James had told me there'd be food so I went with it.

"Sure. Hurry up and I'll save the shower for you," I told him, and he nodded in approval.

I grabbed my backpack from the dolly and ran over to the two separate bathrooms that each had a shower stall inside. Only one of the doors was closed so I darted into the empty bathroom and stripped, showering as quickly as possible. Slipping on the skimpy dark blue dress I'd bought that afternoon after Emmett so eloquently told me that I couldn't look like a hobo at the club, I had to pull up my boobs because they were smashed down like groundhogs. I put on some make up, twisted my wet hair over one shoulder, put all my stuff back into my bag, and peeped my head out of the bathroom to see that Jamie was sitting on the floor right outside with Felix and Jasper standing about five feet away in the middle of a conversation.

"Your turn, bud," I hissed at my blonde friend.

He grinned at me, the piercing on his bottom lip winking at me as he jumped up, stealthy like a cat, and slid into the bathroom at the same time I slipped out. Felix flashed me a sly, appreciative grin as I passed him, which told me that I should pull at the hem of my dress. The shit was riding up my legs so much when I walked that I wondered how slim my chances were that I wouldn't show everyone my green underwear. The first person I saw on my way out was my brother, who was already dressed and typing on his phone. He happened to look up, glanced back down for a second before he looked up again.

"What the fuck, Smella? You working the corner tonight or what?" he cried, pointing at my dress.

"Shut up," I groaned. He did this every single time I wore something that was more than two inches above my knee.

Em glared at me a second longer before he rolled his eyes and went back to playing with his phone. Just as I started to walk away, he called out after me. "If you make any money tonight, I'm taking a cut!"

I flicked him off and got on the practically empty bus. The roadie for GG was on there and so was Eleazar. Things were still a little awkward between us since the Pickle Dick incident last week. While we'd only spoken a handful of words since the tour started, he was still giving me funny looks on top of the silence. Sure he was friends with Tyler, but that dumb fuck was an idiot who thought it'd be a good idea to go to a concert where his ex-girlfriend's psychotic brother was playing. Wanting to avoid the weird looks, I made my way to the back room and planted myself on the long couch with a book I'd stashed in one of the cupboards.

James came in a few minutes later dressed in gray skinny jeans and a button-up white shirt. He smiled at me and sat down in the seat to the right. Riley came in a second later, black pants and shirt completely unbuttoned to where I couldn't understand how his clothes were still on.

"Hey man, can I borrow—," he looked up and stopped talking. Riley blinked those big, blue eyes at me.

My face flushed when he didn't say anything for too long. "What?"

Riley turned to glance at James. "Get out."

I couldn't help but laugh, kicking my foot out at him. "Quit it."

"When the hell did you grow those things?" he asked, cupping two hands up to his chest over his bare pecs. "I remember when you were flatter than a sheet of paper." James added to Riley's fire by snickering at his comment. "Seriously. Smella," he waved a hand over his face and body, "you're just… ugh!"

My face warmed up again but I smiled at him. "Thank you, I think?"

He looked at me for a minute longer before shaking his head and asking James for a belt and something else I didn't care enough to listen to. I hung out with Jamie while the bus made its way to the club. A few minutes later, we stopped and I could hear everyone in the front getting off. Slipping on my black flats, I followed after James to see that we were stopped in the fire lane at some place called _Twilight Sky_. There was a line of people standing outside but I could see Emmett and Jake making their way straight into the club. Following their direction, I smiled at the bouncer who just waved me and James in.

The club wasn't what I was expecting, there was bouncy eighties playing inside with dark red walls and black furniture scattered about the edges. James elbowed me when _Walk Like an Egyptian_ came over the speakers, he made a face before bee-lining to the bar. I didn't bring my ID in because I wasn't planning on drinking, so I walked toward the edge of the LED dance floor. A hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me onto the floor, I turned to see Emmett pretty much dangling his tongue out of his mouth while making the dumbest face I'd ever seen—his normal face.

Emmeline started tutting when we stopped in the middle of the floor and I followed his moves, laughing my ass off the entire time. One song turned into four while we danced in front of each other, our moves getting more and more outrageous as the eighties songs came blaring. I couldn't help but wonder why the hell GG's record label had brought them to an eighties club, but I didn't care. Riley booty bumped me from behind before backing his ass up into my stomach for a few songs.

I pushed Riley out of the way when he started trying to sandwich himself between me and some random brunette on the dance floor. A hand brushed my ass as I wiggled my way through the crowd, and I whacked it away the second it came in contact with me. I'd barely stepped off the floor when I saw Edward, in—fuck me!—slim black jeans, a shirt that was somewhere between pink and purple with black suspenders over—standing a few feet away, talking to some short guy with black glasses.

He smiled at me and waved me over, his eyes dancing across my frame as I walked toward him. "Bella," he breathed into my ear when I stopped next to him. His hand reached out to land on the small of my back.

"Hi," the little man spat out.

I smiled at the stranger and held out my hand to him. "Hi, I'm Bella."

He shook my hand and smiled, all small, flat white teeth out to say hello. "You're stunning."

Laughing at his bluntness, I felt Edwards fingers curl over my hip. I'd gone _months_ without a single freaking compliment, but now I dressed like a prostitute and suddenly everyone was appreciative of me. Oh fucking well. I'll take what I can get. "Thank you!"

"I'm going to take her out to dance," Edward yelled at him, leaning forward.

The little man nodded before winking at me. The cheeky thing. My friend's hand pressed into my back, leading me toward the dance floor.

As soon as we were about ten feet away, he lowered his face next to my ear. "I don't know how to dance." His breath washed hot against my skin. "But I didn't want to talk to him any longer and he kept looking at you after Emmett pointed you out earlier."

I laughed at him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him toward the middle of the crowd where we could be away from anyone in our large group. "I feel used," I teased him when we stopped.

Edward shook his head, the multi colored strobe lights illuminating his short, short hair. "Never. If I pawn you off on him, then I'm using you." He smiled when the song suddenly switched to _Thriller_.

I made a face at him before starting my well-practiced dance moves. My mom had been a huge, huge, huge Michael Jackson fan and when we were little, she'd play his records and teach me and Emmett dance moves. I'm pretty sure we could both do the entire song if we wanted, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was off on some random corner of the floor busting a move. Edward stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and mimicked my moves pretty perfectly. I couldn't tell at all that he couldn't dance but it also helped that we were both laughing throughout the entire song, and then continued through _I'm So Excited_ when it came up next.

Sure I probably looked like a fool, but I didn't care. At. All. I wasn't the best dancer in the world and I probably wouldn't want someone like Felix watching me, but this was Edward. My friend who happened to be pretty much perfect in his own goofy way.

When we started running in place really quickly, he leaned forward, pressing his sweaty forehead against mine. I tried to bat away the funny, warm feeling in my stomach at the contact, I swear, but it was hard. He was too cute and so happy, it made me feel overwhelmed. His eyes met mine, all wide and starry like he'd discovered a constellation. "I don't remember the last time I had so much fun!"

There really wasn't a point in even trying to fight my feelings for this guy.

**Anyone else a suspender fan? *drools* xo-Mariana**


	23. Chapter 23

You guys are spoiled rotten :D but you're absolutely wonderful and that's why I do it. Everyone thank my other half, myheroin, for the birth of sexspenders and telling me I should post early. Here we go! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

* * *

><p>On the first day between tours, everyone—with the exception of Edward and me—were nursing hangovers. I hadn't drank a drop of liquor and according to my fuzzy-haired friend, he'd only drank some fruity thing that made me smirk. His excuse had been something about calories. Right. It was a quiet ride from Vegas to LA, and when we stopped at a Ramada Inn, everyone jumped off and headed into their respective rooms to suffer in private.<p>

I had my own room next to Emmett's, and vegged out on top of the covers with the air conditioner on full blast dressed in only my underwear with food from the restaurant. I took a long, hot shower without my fucking flip-flops for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. My thighs were sore from all the ridiculous dancing the night before, more than half of it had been with Edward who laughed and smiled through it all awkwardly with me.

I did in fact learn first hand, that he was worse at dancing than I was. By a lot. But he was so silly and enthusiastic that it more than made up for his big, goofy feet and sharp hips.

Close to noon the next morning, the phone next to my bed started ringing.

"He-llo?"

"Bella?" Edward's voice carried over the receiver.

"Hey."

He let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank fuck. I think I called everyone but you."

I laughed because I knew he didn't have my cell phone number. Only Jamie had it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

I kicked the covers off my legs and groaned. "Being a bum. What are you doing?"

"I just took a crap and now I'm bored out of my mind. Want to go play some soccer?" he said it all in one breath, like taking a shit was the same as watching TV or something.

"I will if you promise not to mess up my face… wait. How are we getting there?" Our hotel was near the airport, I knew that there definitely wasn't a field nearby where we could go play. The idea of walking around that side out if town kind if made me nervous.

Edward made a flat, huffing noise. "I rented a car, Baby Ruth. Unless you want to walk, I'll follow you in the car," he chuckled.

_Baby Ruth? _"No thanks and why am I Baby Ruth?"

"You just are. Meet me in the lobby in fifteen," he ordered.

We hung up and I got dressed for the first time in twenty-four hours. I texted Em to let him know that I was leaving and headed to the lobby to meet up with Fancy Pants. He was standing there, in his short black shorts and white t-shirt with Felix and Jasper alongside him. My Alice's new little friend smiled at me as I walked up to them.

"Morning," he said before Felix echoed his greeting.

"Hey guys," I told them, stopping in front of them.

Edward shot me a cheesy smile. "Ready to go?"

I nodded and we all headed out to the parking lot. There was a little red Kia parked in the lot, Felix jumped into the front seat while me and Jasper rode in the back.

"Have you ever been to Australia?" Jasper asked me quietly soon after we'd gotten in.

I shook my head. "No but I'm super excited. Have you?"

He nodded, giving me a hint of a smile. "It's my favorite place to tour."

"Mine too," Edward piped up from the driver seat.

"I like Europe," Felix added. "Australia's cool, but I like Europe more."

Edward made a farting noise with his mouth. "You just like going to the Red Light District."

"The Red Light District with prostitutes?" I think I gasped it out.

Felix had the decency to give me a sheepish smile over his shoulder. "Yeah."

"Interesting," I drew out the word, trying to imagine Felix walking up and down a street, picking up hookers.

He started babbling about how there were more than just hookers in Amsterdam but I kind of zoned him out a little. We pulled in next to a park and jumped out. I snatched the sunblock from Edward when he was done and slathered on more than I probably needed. We paired into two teams, Felix slapped Edward on the shoulder in his way of claiming him, I guess.

We ran and ran and ran.

U and down the field over and over again, chasing each other around. Jasper was fast, almost as fast as Edward, while Felix reminded me of a bear lumbering after the ball. Just like the first time we'd played, the game started off pretty clean. We kept a respectable distance between each other and only focused on our feet to steal the ball. But after a few close goals, Edward's elbow caught me in the rib and it was game-fucking-on.

"You little cheater," he laughed when I poked him in the ribs to distract him.

We played on and off for a couple of hours until I had to lay on the grass, panting. Edward snaked his hand out for me to take, and hoisted me up onto my feet. We got back into the car, having decided to stop for food on the way back. As soon as we settled inside, he passed me his iPhone between the seats.

"Put in your number," he told me.

I'd just finished typing in my name and number when his phone started ringing. 'Tanya' appeared on the screen, making my stomach churn at the memory of Ronalda and Edward sitting on the couch together.

"Your friend is calling," I muttered, handing him back his phone.

He looked at the screen, paused for a moment, and then answered. "Hey…I just got done playing soccer…With Felix, Jasper, and Bella…Yeah, she played…No, I guess she doesn't worry about her bikini line, Tan…Having a tan line isn't the end of the world, Jesus…No…No…We're leaving in two days…I haven't changed my mind…Tan…Tan…We already talked about this…Look, we're going to eat. I'll call you when I get back…Because! You need to think about what I told you. I'm not going to change my mind. Okay?...I know…Okay…Bye."

_Awkward_.

Jasper gave me a long side-glance before he cleared his throat. Had Alice told him anything? I didn't think she would. "Tanya?"

Edward nodded stiffly. "She's just—," he grunted at the end in what I could only assume to be frustration.

Was it wrong that I sat there chuckling to myself? No way. Well, maybe a little. I should've been sad that my friend was upset, but I wasn't.

"Women," Edward huffed, turning really quickly to look at me with an impish grin.

I leaned forward and flicked his cheek in response.

* * *

><p>Two things:<p>

1) Someone told me they couldn't find my story "Lingus" on Amazon. Here's the link incase someone else had problems:

http:/www(dot)amazon(dot)com/Lingus-ebook/dp/B007C8IFXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335122670&sr=8-1

2) My lovely friend, Twiggy, found us some pictures of some mouth-watering men in suspenders. You can go to my Twitter page to see the links and I'm sure there will be more as the day goes on. Put on an extra pair of panties, ladies! www(dot)twitter(dot)/marianazapata_


	24. Chapter 24

****Hi! Thank you all for your wonderful, kind words. I love them very much! I took some creative liberties so... if they aren't accurate, my bad. Enjoy!****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but Bandward is mine.**

"I'm going to die of heatstroke."

"You're going to die if I trip you on the walk down."

I shot Edward a dirty look as we walked down the stairs to our seats. It was the second day of our mini-break between tours and the lucky bastard had gotten free tickets to a Galaxy game. One of his fans had messaged him and offered him tickets after he'd posted something on the band's Twitter account about our soccer game the day before. The four tickets he'd gotten were split between us, Felix, and Eleazar. After the day before, Felix hadn't been acting weird with me anymore so I could only hope that Eleazar would chill out too.

"These seats are awesome," I crooned when we found the lower level row where our seats were located.

Felix wiggled his way in first, followed by me, then Edward, and finally Eleazar. The game was set to start in about five minutes, and I really needed some water. The bright, blistering sun was almost painful. My only relief was that the sun would be setting in about an hour. When the vendor started walking up and down the aisle immediately after we'd sat down, I shot up and screamed for him.

"You guys want one?" I asked them.

Edward and Felix nodded, and I shimmied to stand in front of Edward so I could grab the bottles and pay for them. Did I stop in front of him on purpose? I sure as hell did. I was wearing my skankiest pair of khaki shorts, so sue me. Slinking back into my seat, I caught Fancy Pants started wiggling in his seat as he reached for his wallet.

I scowled at him, tapping his arm. "Don't worry about it."

He frowned before nodding. "Thanks."

Felix leaned toward me. "Thanks, Bella."

I nodded at him and settled into my seat, gulping down a quarter of my bottle in one sip. "Do you go to soccer games in Chicago?" I asked Edward.

"When I can, but we're usually gone during the summer so I don't get to often. You?"

"Sometimes. In Seattle, I'd go with Alice at least a couple times a season. I like watching the game and the guys. She just likes watching the guys running around," I laughed.

He gave me a weird face. "So you still like men even after you and that—," he paused, eyeing Felix sitting next to me. "After you and Tyler broke up?"

"You think I like women?" I asked, frowning. Had I come across as a lesbian? It was my sweat pants. Maybe. Or the fact that I was always stealing Emmett's deodorant.

"Isn't that what some girls do after they have a break-up?" His smile was contorting, like he knew he was full of shit and just digging himself deeper into the warmth. "Swear they're done with men?"

I snorted and shook my head. "Uh, no. At least not me. I still like guys, I just don't want someone to throw me away again." The words came out of my mouth faster than I could stop. I hadn't meant to say that, to admit that to him. It was deeper than I would've liked to get into at a freaking Galaxy game.

Those pale green eyes narrowed as he licked his plump bottom lip. Edward leaned toward me so that his lips were right by my ear and I struggled not to shiver or moan at his closeness. He smelled like clean, sweet man. "That guy's an idiot."

I nodded at him but when he didn't pull away, I didn't either.

"You don't deserve to get thrown away, Baby Ruth," he whispered.

Cue the explosion of my ovaries.

I bit my lip and maneuvered my head so that I could talk into his ear. "Thank you, Fancy Pants."

He laughed and pulled away, but his eyes were different. They were bright and alert. The game started a few minutes later, and the screaming in the stands ensued. The first half was insane, there were a couple of close goals and everyone would go berserk when the opposing team got too close to the Galaxy's goal. When two minutes were left on the clock, Donovan scored a goal and the stands went to hell. I wasn't even a Galaxy fan but I jumped up with everyone else and double high-fived every one close to me. When I turned to Edward, he slapped his hands against mine before wrapping his arms around me to pull me in for a hot hug.

During half-time Edward and Eleazar got up to go buy things from the concession stand, leaving me and Felix in the row together.

"Sorry about the Tyler thing," the big man next to me said out of the blue, shifting in his seat to look at me.

Tearing my eyes away from the dancers parading across the field at the end of their routine, I gave him a little smile and shrugged. "It's okay. I know it wasn't your fault."

"I should've known you were his Bella," he pursed his lips together. "I've known him for a long time. We toured together a few years ago when I filled in for his band."

I could remember Tyler mentioning to me when we first started dating how he'd replaced members in his ensemble before me, so Felix's explanation made perfect sense.

He continued, flashing me a devious smile. "But I'm glad that it was only temporary. I don't have it in me to tell him his shit sucks now."

I threw my head back and laughed. "I never did either. He thought I wore earplugs just because I didn't want to damage my ears."

Felix joined me, chuckling. "You're a cool girl, Bella. I'm sorry for being a douche bag." He reached for my arm and squeezed my wrist and I couldn't help but smile at him in return.

Something cold pressed against the back of my neck and I yelped. Edward had a bottle of water thrust against me, but there was a furrow to his eyebrows as he looked at me. "I brought you some water."

"Thank you," I told him, taking the bottle. He had another one in his hand and a small popcorn tucked under his arm.

Felix's hand slipped off of me before he spoke. "You didn't bring me one?"

Edward snorted. "No."

"Useless," he groaned.

My green-eyed friend sat in his seat, settling the container of popcorn right smack in the middle of his lap. I didn't even think twice before dipping my hand into the bucket and grabbing a handful. Edward smirked at me before taking his own handful and cramming all of it into his mouth.

"Are you having fun?" he asked me.

I nodded. "I sure am. Are you?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "I am."

The game started up again and shit got intense. It was one close goal after another, run, run, run, and just a mess of screaming insanity. During a lull in the game, the two huge screens on opposite ends of the field lit up with footage on the field before the camera panned out and "Kiss Cam" came up in huge pink, glittery letters on the screen. I smiled to myself when I saw it because I'd always gotten a kick out of the Kiss Cam at any sporting event I went to. The older couples were my favorites.

But when the screen zoomed in and focused on two people in the audience, it wasn't an old couple.

It was me and Felix.

My face flamed up like the guy in Fantastic Four had gotten a hold of my face, and I heard Felix start laughing from his spot next to me. I looked in the direction where I figured the camera was at and started laughing, shaking my hands and head in front of me. The camera moved up and down in refusal of my gestures. My face turned even more red.

"Ah shit," Felix laughed right next to me.

I turned to look at him out of the corner of my eye and groaned when I saw the angle on the screen move up and down again while people in the crowd cheered us on. Mother-fucking-dicks!

"Bella," Edward's voice murmured into my ear.

I snapped my eyes over to him, feeling the burn of embarrassment filter down to my chest. His face was close to mine and I could see the camera pan out to include Edward's beautiful face on the screen now.

"Me?" he asked me softly, his gaze flickered from my eyes to my mouth.

I'm sure my eyes went gigantic and cartoonish, and like an idiot, I let out the dumbest nervous chuckle in existence. That must have been enough of an answer because his face dipped the remainder of the distance between our faces and he pressed his lips against mine.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Three heartbeats.

I couldn't hear anything, not the thousands of people in the audience around me or even the blood thrumming viciously through my ears and at some point I guess I closed my eyes. Edwards lips were soft on mine, lingering longer than I would've expected a peck to be.

When he pulled away, I opened my eyes to see him licking his lips and shooting me a smile that dazzled my heart into submission, I sighed and forced a cheesy grin onto my face.

Goddamn Edward Masen.


	25. Chapter 25

****Hi everyone! Thank you all for your absolutely amazing reviews. I love them! An extra, gigantic thank you goes out to the wonderful M, aka PunchDrunkNinja, for her creation of Mari's Fancy Pants cupcake. Head on over to my Twitter and check it out!****

**I don't own Twilight.**

"Sit next to me on the plane."

I was taking off my shoes to place them on the plastic trays at the security checkpoint when Edward nudged me with his elbow. All of my crap was already on the long metal table while Jake was getting screened. One side of my cheek came up when I caught his gray-green eyes on mine. "Yeah?"

He nodded, smiling that huge grin that took up his face and made me think of rainbows before he looked down to undo his belt. I swear I tried not to look in the general direction of his crotch, but I failed. Miserably. Ever since he'd pressed those pink, full lips against mine yesterday, I'd been so horny I could burst. He'd looked at me with such a sweet, almost drunken smile after he'd done it that I couldn't think properly the rest of the day.

Which was fine, I guess. Edward hadn't acted any different really. He'd winked at me, and then bragged to Felix about getting on the screen because he'd kissed a "pretty girl." I was the pretty girl. He was so nonchalant about the our kiss that I did my best not to make it seem like I'd won the fucking lottery. I'd take him brushing it off over him acting weird any day, but Edward still wasn't acting completely normal. He seemed more aloof. Distracted.

"I have movies on my laptop," he tried to bribe me.

I looked down the line to see that only him and James were ahead of me. Glancing at the perfect specimen of a man, I made a face. "What movies?" Like that really freaking mattered. I'd probably watch Barney with him if he wanted.

Even though that would be pretty strange.

"You don't have any faith in me?" he scoffed.

I nodded and laughed.

"Next!" the TSA employee called out.

Edward groaned and went on to pass through the new screening machine. A few seconds later, the woman waved him through and it was my turn. I kept an eye on him as he waited at the end of the x-ray machine, talking to the employee there.

The screener gestured me through once I was done, and I walked over to the end of the line, watching as Edward pulled out two small black bags from his backpack to show the TSA worker. He pulled out a few small boxes with colorful lettering on them. I grabbed all of my stuff and put on my shoes, while Edward was nodding at whatever the guy was telling him, stuffing his things back into his backpack.

Em yanked on the end of my ponytail when he passed by me, and I pinched the skin on his stomach in retaliation as I walked passed all the tables and screeners. Edward walked up to me, still shuffling things around in his bag when he stopped.

"They find your stash of dildos?" I chuckled.

"Nah, just my thongs," he laughed.

I smiled at him, looking at the clean-shaven lines of his jaw and cheekbones. "Nice."

He smirked and shook his head, pulling out a white and yellow box that said something about Clix and Lancets. When I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, he shoved the box down his bag again. "They needed to make sure I wasn't bringing these on the plane to hurt someone," he explained, but I was still confused.

"Lancets?" I asked him, thinking of what they could be for, and then it hit me. I remembered my Aunt Lucy used to carry around boxes of lancets in her car in case of some freak emergency that she ran out. "You're diabetic?"

"Yeah." He finished zipping his bag before looking up at me. "I never told you?"

Edward hadn't told me a lot of things. There was a lot about him I didn't know because we seemed to just joke around the majority of the time. We talked about some things like our families and our likes and dislikes, but he was still a stranger to me in certain ways.

"No." I tried to think if he'd done anything to give it away, but I couldn't. He ate a lot healthier than everyone else did, and I'd never seen him drink. Was I really that unobservant?

He grabbed my arm and started pulling me in the direction of where our gate. "I always test myself in the mornings before I get out of my bunk, that's probably why you haven't seen me check my glucose. Sometimes I check it at night if I'm feeling a little funky."

The thing was, he woke up after I did and went to bed after me, too.

"Do you have to take insulin?" I asked because if he did, I'd be the worst friend in the world. How the hell do I miss these things? We'd spent a month together, not counting the week I was being a PMSing bitch and ignored him.

He shook his head. "Nah, it's rare. I have Type 2. I've had it since I was a teenager so I've learned how to control it with my diet and exercising enough."

I remembered how my Aunt would get sick pretty often. She'd have days where she felt like crap, but I knew she had to take insulin. "So…I won't have to stab you with a needle?"

Edward bumped his shoulder to mine as we steered over to the seats in front of our gate. "Probably not, Baby Ruth. I've only had to do it a few times."

"Damn it," I sighed in disappointment, earning me a chuckle in response. "You brought enough of everything though?"

He tugged on the loose strap of my backpack. "I did, don't worry, princess."

I rolled my eyes and plopped onto one of the empty seats by the gate. "Does it run in your family?"

"Yeah. My grandma, my mom, my sister, and me are all diabetic. Rosalie was the one who got out of it."

"Huh. She takes after more of your dad?"

He dropped his backpack onto the floor next to me. "Yeah. Everything but her mouth is all my dad." He hooked his thumb over his shoulder to point behind him. "I'm gonna use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

"All right." He shot me a little smile before turning to go toward the restroom. I sat there and watched that round butt walk off. He was wearing sweat pants—like most of us were in preparation of our fifteen hour flight—and his just happened to magnify that ass perfectly. Ha-lle-lu-jah.

The clearing of a throat made me look in a different direction. My brother and Jake were walking toward me, both of them smirking like they knew something I didn't. They sat down on the chairs opposite mine.

"What?" I asked Em when he kept glaring at me.

"I saw you," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

I tried to control my face so that I wouldn't give myself away completely, but then again, this was my brother. He knew me too well. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh no? I was on my Facebook today and guess what I saw? My sister on the jumbotron at the Galaxy game yesterday, and guess who was tagged in it? One clue, it wasn't you, Smella." He laughed from deep in his big barrel chest.

The blood drained from my face. "Seriously?"

Brown and nearly black eyes glittered at me in amusement. "Oh yeah. His fan totally posted that shit for all of one hundred and fifty thousand fans to see."

"It was just—," I swallowed back my saliva, which suddenly felt thick like tar. "A peck. Quick. It was supposed to be Felix but—"

Emmett made kissing noises as he pursed his lips together like the baboon he is. "Smella and Edward, sitting in a tree—"

"Shut up," I groaned, kicking my leg out in his direction.

Jake cackled.

My brother fluttered his eyelashes, smiling wickedly. "Let me guess, you aren't going to sit next to me on the flight anymore?"

When I shook my head, Emmeline started howling and thrust his hand out in Jake's direction. "You owe me twenty, bitch."

"Dammit, Bella," Jake grunted, already reaching into his backpack for his wallet.

"You assholes bet?"

They both nodded in agreement. "Duh."

"I hope we see a kangaroo and it takes a shit on both of you," I laughed. It really wasn't that surprising that they'd made bets. I used to make bets with Emmett over the most random stuff. Like how pissed our mom would get when we broke dishes. With our mom there were certain levels of anger: she'd rub her forehead if she was only a little mad, next she'd start slamming drawers, then she'd scream our full names out, or finally, if she was really mad—and this was only with Emmett—she'd chase after him with a whatever kitchen utensil was closest to her.

Edward came back a second later, sitting down next to me and talking to my brother about some band that they really liked. Half an hour passed, we were boarding the plane and Fancy Pants was telling Eric, the other member of GG, that he was going to be sitting with Emmett and Jake on the plane. Eric was really quiet, and he didn't seem to care about the change in seating arrangements.

Once we got on board, the plane was the biggest one I'd ever seen. There were three rows, with four seats in the middle and three seats on each side. I just followed Edward over to one side and he slipped into the window seat with me in the middle. James waved at me as he sat with Eleazar and Felix on the opposite side of the plane. I saw everyone else scatter into different rows in the plane.

But I did catch Riley giving me a funny look when he looked in my direction. A lady came and sat in the seat next to mine, telling me and Edward hi.

"Did you know one of your fans posted a picture from last night on your band's Facebook page?" I asked him the moment we were completely settled in. I'd wanted to ask him about it when he got back to the restroom but I didn't want to bring it up in front of Emmeline. The last thing the bastard needed was a reminder to tease me more.

He grinned. "Yeah, I saw it last night." He raised a thick, slash of an eyebrow. "It got four hundred likes."

"I'm so sorry," I groaned. But I wasn't.

His eyes lit up. "I'm not."

I opened to say something, anything, but before I could the flight attendant came over the speakers, breaking apart our chat. She went on and on, and because I'm a coward, I diverted my eyes toward the aisle. I couldn't think of what to tell him, didn't know what I even _thought_ about what he'd said. Maybe kissing other girls wasn't a big deal to him. He probably did it out of pity for my embarrassment, but a small voice in my head reasoned that he could've just left me to kiss Felix.

"I'm probably going to pass out as soon as we get in the air," he warned me when the flight attendant stopped talking. He was settling the little pillow into the space between his head and the paneling.

I nodded in agreement, pushing away my questions about the day before. I'd gotten up early to go to Amoeba Music with James that morning and we'd walked around a lot. My lazy ass was used to walking all of fifteen steps from the bus into the venue. "If I snore, wake me up, okay?"

"No promises," he snickered.

Edward started telling me about how loud Felix snores, and then I told him about how my dad used to keep me up all night because he'd snore so loud. The plane took off at some point and sure enough, I felt my eyelids start to droop in no time. The little pillow the airline had provided was smashed behind my head and I remember giving Edward a sleepy smile.

I passed out.

Who knows how long later, my legs started to feel a little weird and uncomfortable, so I opened my eyes to see that I wasn't sitting up. My upper body was draped over Edward's lap, the pillow the only thing keeping me from being face-to-crotch with him. My fingers were wedged underneath his thigh and something warm was resting on my neck. I wiggled one hand out to feel that his fingers were cupping my throat. He wasn't moving, which meant he was probably asleep too.

Maybe he didn't want to talk about what happened the night before but I wasn't going to over analyze it. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.


	26. Chapter 26

**My lovelies, here's another chapter. I love and appreciate all of your awesome words and reviews more than anything. THANK YOU! **

**P.S. Please don't complain about chapter lengths and how often I post, it's not cool. If you knew how many things I work on at once, then you'd understand that I try my best. My mind just works better when I have several things going on. Okay, I'm done being serious. Enjoy! :) xoxo**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight but Baby Ruth and Fancy Pants are mine.**

"Would you like anything else, _sir_?"

I had to slap a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. The flight attendant was bent over at the waist and leaning over the lady in the seat next to mine and partially over me. But she didn't care about us, I don't even think she really saw us sitting there.

Her focus: Edward.

Edward, who had just woken up three minutes before and had a little bit of drool on the corners of his mouth, had one cheek that was pink and lined from the position he'd been in, and his eyes were still heavy with sleep. After a four hour nap, I'd woken up with a stiff back and hips, and then shook his arm to get him up when I saw the flight attendant coming down the aisle with drinks.

"No, thank you," he answered back with a slightly awkward smile on his face.

The woman, probably just a few years older than us, stayed in her position a second longer than necessary before lowering her voice. "Are you sure?"

I squeaked right before Edward pinched my leg, licking his lips. "No thanks."

"Okay," she answered before sauntering off to the next row with her cart.

"Holy shit!" I laughed, still covering my mouth with my hand because I knew she was right behind us.

Edward shot me a look out of the corner of his eye before picking up his cup of water to sip from. "Shut up," he groaned.

"Edna! That lady totally wanted to scramble your eggs!"

I heard him start choking and coughing on his water before I saw him pinch the bridge of his nose, gasping. "Jesus Christ, Bella," he gasped as he tried to get himself under control. I made it look like I was cracking eggs in midair before stirring. He reached out to put my hands down.

"Seriously, I'm gonna barter your nuts for some snacks later when I get hungry."

Edward's shoulders started shaking when he laughed, looking down. "I'll share my snacks with you, Baby Ruth. Just don't trade my virtue for food."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Your virtue? Ha!"

"Bella Swan, are you trying to tell me that you think I've tarnished my reputation?" He was trying so hard not to smile, but this guy smiled in his sleep—it was an impossible feat.

Putting my hand on top of his wrist, I made an incredulous face. "Do you remember our Pickle Dick day? I'm pretty sure you said you," I leaned closer to him because the lady on my other side was awake, "said you liked pussy. I'm sure your virginity's been long gone, kid."

The apples of his cheeks turned pink as he smiled. "Yeah, I did say that," he chuckled. "And I did lose my virginity a long time ago, but I don't shop around, you know what I mean?"

I did. I didn't really want to ask him about when exactly he lost his virginity or how many people he'd been with because it made me feel incredibly weird deep in my chest. It was like jealousy flared within my organs. "I believe you," I told him because I did. I'd never seen him be anything more than remotely polite to any of his fans. There were plenty of other men in the music business who had no issues sleeping with their supporters—Riley included—but Edward wasn't like that. I knew it.

"You, princess?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, something flickering in his light colored eyes.

I narrowed mine in return. "Me what?"

"Is your virtue intact?"

I laughed. I swear, it's not like I wanted to laugh at that specific question because I knew it made me look like a total whore—which I wasn't, for the fucking record—but still. He laughed too, right before I forced myself to sober up my expression and get as serious as possible. "Yes."

His eyes went wide and it looked like his jaw became unhinged. "Seriously?"

"No, jackass." I leaned forward to dig my elbow into the meat of his muscular thigh. Edward was slim but he had a pretty serious build. "I haven't been around the block or anything, I've only been with one person—," there was no point in bringing up Tyler and especially not my high school boyfriend's name, "and if you can't feel it, then it didn't happen right?"

Edward smile; huge, bright, so magnificent it made me think of the moon. "That's right and if it's not fun, then I don't think it counts either, you know?"

I nodded.

That magnetic smile morphed into something wicked before he leaned toward me. "I think you're the most fun person I've ever met, Baby Ruth."

Oh my fuck.

A slice of a shiver shot up my spine. "Why do you call me that?"

"Because I can," he answered, still leaning toward me.

"Do you hate Baby Ruth bars?" I asked him in a small voice.

His fingers brushed at a loose strand of hair on my face. "Nope."

"Do you like Baby Ruths?"

He pulled away from me, keeping those pale eyes on mine when he gave me a crooked smile. "They're my favorite"

I'm sure my lips were making a horrendous 'O' shape at his answer. _Whaaat?_ So I giggled before sighing and looking away. "Can you eat them? Because of your diabetes?" the words were panted from my mouth. The idea of him eating Baby Ruth bars made me think of him eating something else. Gah!

"I make sure I can every once in a while. Little pieces. I can't spoil my diet too much so that I can keep sneaking them," he answered.

His favorite. Every once in a while. Sneaking.

I needed a vibrator. Pronto.


	27. Chapter 27

**Here's an early update, my lovely ladies. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but you know this.**

* * *

><p>"None of you found it in your hearts to tell me it was fucking winter here?" I hissed at my brother, Riley, and Jake.<p>

They stared at me with wide eyes as I bounced around the sidewalk with my arms crossed over my chest. It was forty-nine degrees in Melbourne and I'd been expecting it to be, oh, maybe eighty or eighty-five. Instead, we were stuck outside baggage claim waiting for the promoter of the Australian tour to come pick us up and I was freezing my imaginary balls off. Sure, I'd lived in the northwest my entire life but I lived in a perpetual state of hoodie-dom. You could never find me without a long-sleeved shirt on or a jacket, unless it was in the seventies or eighties.

My lower back was bothering me after that ridiculously long flight and I had the idea to never sit again. Well, at least for a few hours. With only my cropped sweatpants and a Red Mile t-shirt on, I wasn't prepared for the wind. Apparently, everyone else was. They were all in zip-ups or pullovers except me.

"Come here, I'll keep you warm," Riley heckled from his spot a few feet away.

I rolled my eyes and held back from flicking him off. The members of Golden Giants were slowly trickling out of Customs and baggage claim since they'd lined up afterward with their work visas. According to my brother, my visa had gotten approved at the last minute.

"I'm sure one of us has an extra jacket you can borrow," Jake said.

Not offering to let me borrow his.

Frowning at them I walked around behind my brother and pressed myself, arms still crossed, against his back to block some of the wind at least. "So what's the plan?"

"What plan?" Em asked.

"Are we getting another bus or what?" I screeched when a particularly cold blast of wind hit us from behind.

Emmeline laughed. "That's why I like you, Smella. You're always up for whatever without worrying about the details."

"And that's probably why I'd always get in trouble with you," I snickered against his shoulder. It was true. Growing up, Em would say _Let's go_ and I'd go without questioning where. My trust in him had always been astronomical, sure we'd get into trouble for being out of the house too long or doing things we shouldn't have been doing—this was namely just Emmett—but it'd always been worth it.

He turned to look at me over his shoulder, shooting me a warm smile. "We're playing three shows in each city, so we're staying in hotels and the promoter's driving us around."

I nodded against him. It wasn't like I really cared if we were on a bus again or not, but the idea of sleeping on a real bed again sounded amazing. "Do I get my own room?"

"You're sharing one with me," Riley cackled next to us.

"Screw that!" I laughed. "I'm sleeping in the hallway."

Emmett laughed. "Dude, I wouldn't want to share a room with you either after that stunt you pulled—"

"I was sleeping," Ri groaned.

My brother didn't even need me to ask what he'd done before he started talking. "I woke up one night when we were sharing a room, and this motherfucker was jacking off five feet away. I kept screaming at him but he wouldn't wake up until I threw the phonebook at him. He's the reason why we don't share rooms anymore. I'll pay for it out of my own pocket so I'm not traumatized ever again."

"I was asleep," Riley echoed his earlier explanation.

I started making gagging noises while Emmeline laughed. "So, yeah. We're all getting our own rooms. I'm hoping to get some Aussie puss—"

"I don't want to know," I cried, pressing my face in the crack between his arm and ribs.

"What don't you want to know?" Edward's voice asked from behind me.

Turning my head to look at him, he was already wearing a bright red hoodie over his plain white v-neck shirt. I grimaced in his direction. "Em wants to get laid, and I don't wanna know about it."

He smiled, continuing his walk over to me. Felix and James were trailing behind him, pulling along their own suitcases. "I don't blame you." His eyes swept over me huddling into my brother. "Where's your jacket?"

"I didn't bring one," I said, wrinkling my face. "No one told me it was winter here."

Edward didn't even hesitate to start unzipping his hoodie, dropping his backpack to the floor before pulling loose from the sleeves. "Here," he said, holding it out in my direction. "I don't want you getting sick." The right side of his mouth lifted in a soft smile.

"Thank you!" I slipped that sucker on faster than I put on my underwear in the morning. The inside was already warm from his body heat and it had that distinct, clean scent that I associated with him. It was two sizes too big but I couldn't have cared any less.

He nodded at me, crossing his arms over his chest. The dark, thick tattooed bands on his arm popped against the simple white of his shirt and the gray of his sweat pants. He was way too good-looking for his own good and I think that the fact he was so casual about it, so indifferent to his shockingly striking face that it added to his appeal.

"You aren't cold?" I asked him, being a perv and eyeing his nipples to see if they'd perk up.

"Nah. Not really. I'm from Chicago, princess. This isn't _that _cold."

."_My name is Edna and I'm from Chicago._" I mocked him, rolling my eyes playfully.

"_This isn't that cold_."

He just stood there and glared at me before looking over my shoulder and nodding. I felt the hard arm wrap around my neck a second later, squeezing down on the soft tissue. "Go to sleep, Bella," Em's voice chuckled in my ear, reminding me of when we were younger and he'd try his wrestling moves on me. He used to practice the "sleeper hold" on me all the time, in hopes he could make me go to sleep. I tried wiggling my face down to bite his arm before he pulled away, ruffling my hair.

The honk of a vehicle made us all turn around. A big, white van pulled up alongside the curb and a young guy jumped out, immediately going toward Edward. He introduced himself as Garrett, the promoter for the Australian tour, and wrangled us into the huge van with all of our crap. I ended up sitting between James and Jake on the ride to our hotel.

Melbourne reminded me of what most Americans pictured Texas to be. Texas wasn't cattle and cowboys, like Melbourne wasn't kangaroos and koalas on every corner. But I kept my eyes locked on looking outside the window and a couple of times I caught Edward, who was sitting in the front seat, looking at me with a little smile on his face.

Garrett started telling all of us some information about where we could go eat nearby, what places to stay away from, and other stuff I was too distracted to listen to. We pulled into an average looking hotel, and Felix pulled my suitcase out for me. The promoter got us all our room keys and I found that our rooms were on different floors. Half of us were on the first floor while the other half were on the second floor.

After taking our shit to ours rooms, I was on the same floor as Riley, Jake, Felix, and James, we met in the hallway and went to eat at a restaurant down the street. I didn't ask where everyone else was at because I figured that they had made their own plans. By the time we made it back to the hotel, it was close to midnight and I was wide awake.

I'd barely finished showering and dressing when I heard a knock at my door. Knotting my towel around my hair, I went to the door. "Who is it?"

"Edward, princess."


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi! Just a quick update before I go grocery shopping. Thank you all for your kind, HILARIOUS, and magical words. I love them more than the sun loves the moon (my nephew's words, that boy!) Enjoy!**

**I don't own Twilight, blah, bitty, blah.**

"Your feet don't smell," I said after taking a distant whiff of his feet from about two feet away.

He'd knocked on my door about five minutes before, didn't even need a welcome before he was pushing his way in and kicking off his shoes. Before I'd even locked my door, he was climbing onto my bed and reclining against the headboard. My mind said, _Danger!_ But my ovaries screamed, _Naked! Now!_

So I did what any girl would've done, I climbed up on the bed next to him and sat cross-legged right by him.

"I took a shower earlier," he explained, wiggling his toes beneath the bright white socks on his feet. "Then I went to eat with your brother and Eleazar."

I nodded. "I went to eat with Riley and them."

Edward smiled, crossing his arms over his black t-shirt covered chest. "I know."

"You do?" I asked him, pulling at some lint he had on his clean sweat pants.

"I tried texting you but I guess your phone is off, so I sent Felix a text message and he told me."

I looked up at him then. "I don't get service here and I'm sure as fuck not going to pay a ton of money on my cell phone bill to talk to my parents or Alice. They know to call Em if they need me."

"Cheap ass," Edward snickered before flicking my bare knee. "You don't have a lot of friends?" he asked me in a lowered voice.

It kind of made me feel weird, like there was something wrong with me for not choosing to have a bunch of people in my life. But I liked it that way. "No. Just Alice really. I'm picky," I smiled up at him.

"So I should feel honored that I'm your best friend?" he asked, raising a dark eyebrow while a goofy, crooked grin covered his lips.

I couldn't help but snort. "We're best friends?"

He sat up a little then, nodding with that same ridiculous smile on his face. "At least."

Wanting to focus on his words, but being too scared, I raised an eyebrow at him in return. "How old am I?" I asked him, knowing he had no idea.

"Twenty… two?" he asked, twitching an eye.

"Worst best friend ever. I'm twenty-four and my birthday is on September 13. Remember it," I groaned, flicking his thick thigh in return. "How old are you and when is your birthday?"

Edward sighed and made a face. "I'm twenty-eight and my birthday was June twelfth."

"Okay, best friend. What's my favorite color?"

He made another face. "Blue?"

I slapped his stomach lightly. "Yes! How'd you know?"

"You're always wearing blue," he boasted with a wink. "What do you think my favorite color is?"

I rolled my eyes. "Duh, pink."

Edward laughed before leaning forward to wrap an arm around my waist and pulling me up the bed, closer to him. "It's red, genius."

How I didn't burst into a million flames at his touch, I don't know. It was nothing short of a miracle, I think. "In the same family as pink, _genius_. Speaking of red, I'll give you your hoodie back when I buy one tomorrow, okay?"

He shrugged in response. "Whenever, Baby Ruth."

I still didn't completely understand his choice of calling me that but I figured he'd tell me in time when he wanted. "What's your favorite thing to listen to?" I asked him, figuring that since we were on a roll getting to know each other, I might as well take advantage.

"You know I don't have one," he answered, pursing his lips. A typical musician answer. "I like everything but dub-step and probably… nope, that's about it. I can listen to anything as long as it's good. What about you? Miley Cyrus? Selena Gomez?"

I threw my head back and laughed. "Oh yeah, I stole their CDs from your backpack when you were sleeping on the plane."

Edward smiled and gently snorted, fluttering those thick, long eyelashes at me. "I'll send you my posters when I get back home," he teased me. When I grinned at him, his expression softened and his eyes flickered down to my hands. "You haven't been with anyone since you and Tyler broke up?" he asked out of nowhere.

The question sort of threw me for a loop since I wasn't expecting it. At all. But that void that I felt for my ex was numbed and so insignificant I couldn't bother to remember anything about him that used to mean to me. "No one," I told him simply. "First my heart was broken and then I was too pissed off to bother. Plus I looked like a ghost for so long because I just didn't give a shit, you know what I mean?"

"I know," he replied in a soft voice, still looking at my twitching hands. "My last girlfriend, Tanya, you remember her, right?" I nodded but he never bothered to look at my face. "She broke up with me because she was tired of me being gone all the time. She wanted me to choose her over my music, but—," those pale green eyes looked up at my shit colored ones, "I don't know. It didn't seem like the right thing to do. I didn't want to do that. So I haven't wanted to date anyone since her because I don't want to get stuck in that type of relationship again, I guess."

The idea that someone, specifically Ronalda, would ask Edward to give up his dream, his talent, to fight off her loneliness, made my heart churn. His gift didn't deserve to fade away, and those selfish reasons made me burn. "I think someone who really loves you wouldn't ask you to give up what you love, what you were meant to do," I told him in such an even voice it shocked me.

He smiled at me and nodded. "I think the same thing, princess."

**One of my favorite chapters, I don't know why exactly. xoxo**


	29. Chapter 29

****You guys are the best. Thank you times a trillion.****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

"I'll meet you in twenty," Edward whispered into my ear as we were getting off the van after a very late dinner.

It was a mutual decision that we'd each shower before he came over to my room each night—even though I would have gladly let him shower in my room. With me. After that night in Melbourne, where he'd stayed in my room until close to five in the morning, it had just been the beginning. It was our first night in Sydney, and we were about six days into the Australia tour. Five consecutive nights of sitting in my room with a handsome, showered, and delicious smelling man.

Unfortunately, it was pretty innocent. We sat on the bed and talked a lot, watched television, and ragged on each other for our likes and dislikes. When he told me he liked Passion Pit, I fell off the bed. When I told him that 'd seen The Notebook about a million times, he'd rolled his eyes so far back I was worried those pretty irises would stay there.

But I think the thing that killed me the most was that the more I learned about Edward, the man who teased me mercilessly, the more I liked him. I liked that he enjoyed reading, that he knew how to play four different instruments, and that he had a pet turtle named Fred that his sister babysat. The bastard was sweet and thoughtful, and he laughed at my jokes and my embarrassing stories.

This huge, blinding forest fire filled my chest when I was around him.

While it should have been a beautiful thing that I liked him as much as I did, it wasn't. I had no idea where things stood between us. Whether there actually _was_ something to stand between us. Our joking could be considered flirting. He spent more time with me than he did with anyone else by multiples. When we were at the venues and he wasn't busy, he'd come find me even if he had to wear a hoodie to do so to avoid getting mobbed by fans.

This was so complicated.

I didn't want to assume anything, so I didn't. Afterall, he'd mentioned Ronalda as his ex but I couldn't help but remember that conversation that I'd overheard. Was there something else that could possibly be going on? Or had he tamped it down with his rough words? I had no fucking idea and I sure as hell wasn't going to ask Jamie.

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I skipped to my room and showered as quickly as possible so I could be ready when he was at the door. Was it a little desperate? Maybe. But I didn't care.

The knock on my door came just a couple minutes after I'd finished smothering lotion all over my skin. "What's the password?" I asked walking toward the door.

"Bella is the princess of the universe."

My hands paused on the deadbolt. "_Anddddd…_?"

There was a pause. "I have cookies."

"Bingo!" I unlocked the bolt and didn't even bother ushering Edward in. He did his usual routine, kicking off shoes, peeling off his jacket, and plopping onto his side of the bed.

He tossed me a little packet of cookies he probably bought at the vending machine at my chest. "Save me half of one," he said sweetly, wigging his butt on the mattress to try and get comfortable.

I nodded at him, already tearing the package open before jumping on the other side of the bed. I had to crawl with the cookies in my mouth over to a spot right by his chest, where I crossed my legs like always. After the first two nights of having him pulling me closer to him, I'd just started doing it on my own. I'd asked him why he wanted me to sit there but he'd given me two excuses. 1) He liked the way I smelled after my shower, and 2) My body heat was nice. I wanted to tell him that if he wanted some heat we could turn up the air or he could crawl under my sheets, but only someone with an IQ of 20 would say that to him.

What I should've done is turn down the air even more each night so I could give him a reason to cuddle. But I didn't.

Edward was already flipping through channels with one hand at the same time the other one kneaded my knee while I ate the sweet vanilla cookies he'd bought me. I was more focused on his long fingers rubbing my legging covered legs than the movie he'd put on.

"Where's your Chapstick?" he asked me a second later.

I moved my head in the direction of my backpack, which was sitting on the floor right next to him. "Top pocket," I answered as lady-like as I could without spitting crumbs all over the place.

He nodded, reaching over the edge of the bed to grab my backpack and planted it on his lap to search through it. The top pocket was unzipped and he reached in, looked at whatever he was holding and made a face. "What's this?" he asked, holding something out.

I coughed all over him.

My little bullet, which looked like a Chapstick tube made of metal, was sitting in his palm. I'd bought it while we were still in Melbourne one day when James and I had nothing to do at the venue for hours. I'd ditched him at the music store while I ran into the shop next store and bought my new friend.

"I'm sorry!" I gasped, trying to wipe at his chest. There were crumbs all over his heather gray shirt. I yanked the bullet out of his hand and then started wiping at the pieces on him.

He laughed and shrugged, picking pieces off too, but popping the larger ones into his mouth. "Was that what I think it is?" he asked in a low, amused voice.

"Lipstick? Yes," I lied, keeping my eyes on his shirt while I finished picking off the remaining pieces on his shirt.

Edward nudged my knee. "Liar."

"You're a liar," I squeaked.

"I am?" he asked me in that same voice he'd used with his last question.

I slowly dragged my eyes up to his green ones. "Yeah." My skin felt itchy all of a sudden. "Your passport says that you're a male but you're really a female."

"Bella," he groaned, trying to disguise his laugh. "You're giving my manhood a complex."

Thank the fucking lord I didn't have anymore cookies in my mouth at his use of the word _manhood_.

Looking up at him, I saw that his eyes were trained on the leg that I'd shoved the bullet under. Then he looked at me and I swear his lids looked heavy.

Three hours later, when I started swaying with sleep, he pulled back my bed sheets. "I'm leaving. Lock the door after me, before you fall asleep," he whispered, and then he kissed me on the tip of my nose.

I'm sure the next morning I'd regret not being more alert to enjoy the gesture.


	30. Chapter 30

****You guys are amazing. Thank you so much for your unbelievable words. I love them and appreciate them a ton.****

****Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but you know this.****

"What's the password?"

"Bella's birthday should be a national holiday."

I grinned like an idiot, and fortunately, I was in my room alone so he couldn't see my facial expression. It had to be bordering on ugly from how hard my cheeks hurt in such a short amount of time. "_Andddd_?" I asked like usual.

He laughed from the other side of the door. "I bought you a book."

My grinned widened exponentially while I unlocked my door to let him in. He'd barely made it in before he was kicking the door closed and putting a hand on each of my cheeks. I hadn't seen him all day. When Emmeline woke me up that morning to go eat breakfast, I'd felt like _crap_. My body hurt, I had a fever, and I just felt like crap. Em took me to the doctor and I was told it was just a virus. I ended up staying in my room with my brother for the majority of the day until he caught a cab to the venue in the evening.

"Still feeling like shit?" he asked me softly.

I nodded, looking into his bright eyes. "Yeah."

He leaned forward and examined my face. "I've been worried about you all day. Riley didn't tell us you were sick until we were halfway to the venue. I just thought you and Emmett had decided to go do something on your own."

"You missed out on a doctor's visit and the strangest tasting soup I've ever eaten," I smiled at little at him.

Edward gave me that lopsided grin I liked. "Party animal." His hands brushed down my neck to rest on my shoulders. "Want me to go get you something?"

I shook my head and gestured toward the bags sitting on the nightstand. "Em bought me a sandwich and juice when you guys got here, but thank you."

I don't know what it was about him when I said thank you to people, especially to him, because he smiled. Always. He reached behind him for a second, his elbow wobbled in the air, and then he was handing me a book. "It's by the same author as that other your book you're always reading," he said, settling the paperback into my outstretched hand.

_The Messenger_ was written in pinkish red letters on the cover. Something that sounded like a husky squeal erupted from my lips as I threw my arms around him and hugged weaker than normal. "Thank you!"

Edward wrapped his arms around the middle of my back and squeezed me to him strongly enough to make up for my lacking strength. "You're welcome, princess."

We pulled apart after a minute, and then he was taking off his shoes and laying on the side of the bed I hadn't contaminated yet. "So you have a virus?" he asked, flopping his long arms open across the mattress.

"A big stinking virus," I told him, sticking out my tongue. "I should be better tomorrow the day after."

He made a face while watching me leave my present on top of my backpack. "That sucks," he replied, still watching me. A slow smile crept across his cheeks. "Poor little sick baby."

Snorting pathetically, I took a sip out of the bottle of water I had on the table before flopping on the bed next to him. I sprawled out on the queen-sized mattress. " Suck it."

"Suck what?" he laughed.

"My invisible nuts," I snickered, turning my head just a little face him.

He was sitting up on the bed while I laid down flat. "I forget about those things, Baby Ruth." The hand closest to me reached over to grasp my forearm. "I see this girl who's usually pretty fucking gorgeous and the last thing I expect is for her to have a pair under her clothes," he chuckled.

I soaked up his compliment for all of a split second. "Usually?" I asked with a hint of a higher tone.

"You're sick," he explained with amusement tinting his voice.

"So you're telling me I look like shit?" I finally laughed, not at all insulted by what he was implying. There was no way I didn't look the way I felt. Like a big, old pile of poo.

His hand stroked up my arm. "You don't exactly look your best, princess, but you're still pretty," he offered me.

I smacked his hand off and laughed attempting to roll over away from him.

Edward laughed louder, slipping an arm under my body and pulling me toward him. Onto him. "You're still pretty!" He crushed me against his bouncing, entertained chest. His other arm finished the circle around me, my breasts pressed against his ribs and my head on his pec.

"All I hear is _blah, blah blah,_" I laughed into the soft material of his red hoodie.

He squeezed me to him tighter. "You're a pain in the ass."

"Like you're one to talk."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping or something? Isn't that what you do when you're sick?"

I nodded against him. "Yeah, but there's this annoying guy that likes to hang out in my room and keep me up every night."

"What an asshole," he hissed.

"I know, right?" I laughed.

Edward tilted his head down so that his lips were so close to my forehead I could feel their heat. "Want me to leave?"

As if there was another answer. "No."

He didn't say anything, but I felt him start wiggling his way down the bed. "I'll wait until you go to bed then."

"Okay."

We sat there quietly with the television so low it just sounded like a whisper in the background, until, "Hush, little baby, don't say a word—"

"What are you doing?" I started laughing.

"I'm singing you a lullaby so you can go to sleep," he said.

I shifted just a little in his arms until I was more comfortable. "Okay, continue."

His chest moved with silent laughter. "Edward's gonna buy you a mockingbird—," I snorted, trying to cover it. His chest shook more but it didn't break his song's stride. If anything his sweet, beautiful voice got a little louder. "And if that mockingbird won't sing, Edward's gonna buy you a diamond ring."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm participating in Fandoms for Special Olympics! It's an amazing cause, and if you're interested in donating and receiving a lot of great stories and my SOCCERWARD one-shot, check out their Twitter for links: twitter(dot)comfandoms4SO I will be posting teasers in the near future ;) xoxo -Mariana**


	31. Chapter 31

**You guys are spoiled rotten. SPOILED ROTTEN. Also, I miss Emmett. Enjoy.**

**I don't own Twilight. Blah.**

* * *

><p>"So what's going on with you and your boyfriend?" Emmett asked me right before he shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth.<p>

I made a face in the direction of my plate before shooting a glance upward to see Jake looking at me with a little grin on his face. "Riley?" I asked, looking back down.

Em made a gagging noise, elbowing me hard in the ribs. "I'm not going to go into details on how disturbing it is that I say _your boyfriend_ and you automatically think of fucking Ri."

"He's always calling me his wife, or telling people I don't know that we're getting married!" I cried, elbowing him back half as hard as he got me.

"I love that guy but it'll be a sunny day in my asshole before you and him get together," he mumbled.

I snorted, biting into my biscuit. "Well, who the heck else would you be talking about?" I ask him, but I know. I know he's talking about Edward.

Freaking Jake snickers from across the table before putting his hands up in surrender. "Don't look at me."

"Edward, Smella. Edward. Your boyfriend. Your snuggle bug." Emmeline finally answered.

Suddenly the half-eaten biscuit on my plate looks absolutely delicious, and I'm shoving the entire thing in my mouth to avoid this conversation. I've had talks about boys with Em in the past and it's never ended—or started—well. "There's nothing going on between us. We're just friends."

Because we are.

Emmett makes a noise that sounds like 'hmmph' deep in his throat. It's incredulous and disbelieving. "Jake, do you think I'm blind?"

Jake shakes his head.

"Bella, do you think I'm blind?" he asked, patting his eyebrows.

"With love," I laughed.

He shot me a frown before rolling his eyes. A moment later, he threw his arm over my shoulders and starts shoving his plate away. "Bella Smella, that kid is in love you."

Love.

With me?

But my brother keeps talking before I can strain the thought. "Anyone with eyes and ears knows that guy thinks you shit out Lucky Charms."

Jake and I can't help but laugh. "Is that a good thing?" I asked him.

Emmeline waved me off with his free hand, dipping his head to face me better from his close spot. "And _I_ think that you love him, too."

The noise that comes out of my mouth sounds like a hybrid moo and squawk at the same time. "I—What? We haven't even—we haven't even kissed!"

That doesn't help the situation any because Em's throwing his head back and laughing from deep within his throat. "Bella, remember when you swore you were in love with Justin Timberlake? But you'd never met him? I'm sure if he would've showed up at our door, you would've sold your soul to the devil to be with him."

I nod because it's the fucking truth. If that shit happened now, I'd kick him to the curb, but ten years ago? I would've totally been a teen mom.

"You know that day you were sick?" Jake asked me in his quiet voice from across the table. When I nodded he continued, "He looked miserable the entire day. He kept asking me and Riley if we'd heard from Em once every other hour."

The words are settling onto my skin, my pores are absorbing them into me slowly.

"And then he's always talking about you. Bella said this, Bella said that." Emmett shook his head in disgust. "But what killed me was that a few days ago, this girl—"

"That girl!" Jake exclaimed, knowing exactly whatever girl my brother is referring to.

"This girl," Em's putting his hands in front of his chest, leaving enough space so that two melons can fit. "This girl that looks like a Victoria's Secret supermodel comes up to him and she's pretty much raping him with her eyes. She's telling him what hotel she's in, what room number is hers, and he's just in his own fucking world. And when she leaves, we're all like _Dude, hit that!_ What does he do? He shrugs. You don't shrug when Adriana Lima's twin comes onto you."

Jake nodded in understanding.

But my brother's not done yet. "So Felix tells him, _Edward, she's so fucking hot. Do it._ And this guy," he snickered, shaking his head. I can't tell whether it's in disappointment or amusement. "He tells him, _she is hot, but she's not my type_."

"Adriana Lima's twin is every man's type," Jake added.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Em's apparently going to keep going. "And I knew it! I fucking knew it right then, and everyone else knew it right then. This motherfucker is in love, but then he seals the deal when he said, _I'm not interested._"

Jake looks like he's in church, "Every human being is interested."

"So, my point is, Smella. That guy more than likes you," he finally finishes.

I'm reeling. My heart feels like it's beating through softened butter.

"I guess that means, I gotta start saving, huh?" Emmeline asked me with a squeeze to the shoulder.

"For what?" I asked him, still thinking more about what he'd told me about Edward before.

"Your wedding, estupid. I'll pay for your mother-fucking wedding if you're going to marry Edward one day." He holds up his glass of orange juice in Jake's direction for a toast. "I like that guy."

* * *

><p><strong>And before I forget AGAIN, I've had a few readers ask me what I envision The Golden Giants sounding like. Youtube "Karnivool" orrrr "Today I Caught the Plague." So sue me, I have prog rock in my heart. (Also, blame my boyfriend). -Mariana<strong>


	32. Chapter 32

****Hai. I'm slowly working my way through reviews, but please know that I appreciate each and every one of them (and some of you have your PMs blocked!). Anyway, enjoy! ****

**I don't own Twilight, but if you steal any of my stories, I will unleash the wrath of my three hundred plus pounds of dog upon you.**

* * *

><p>"Smella, why don't you dress like that?" Riley asked me from across the table.<p>

We'd been sitting in this karaoke bar for all of fifteen minutes, and half the guys at the table have been staring at the same two girls for the last fourteen of fifteen of them. Today was Felix's birthday and the guy apparently loves to karaoke when he's been drinking. Go figure.

I don't even bother looking in the direction of the two women because I'd checked them out like ten minutes ago. In skirts that show more ass than my underwear do, and with shirts that plunge so deep I'm surprised nipples aren't laser-beaming all over the place, I was completely uninterested. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I'd never really understood why some girls liked to show off all their goods when going out. Wasn't there something sexy about guessing what was underneath the clothing?

Meh.

"Like a prostitute?" I asked him, drinking out of my glass of water.

Riley, who was sitting on my right, nodded. "Yeah," he pretty much hissed it out with way too much enthusiasm.

Edward, who was two seats down from me, next to James' who's on my left, was looking at me with a grin on his face. He's one of the only people not looking at the two half-dressed girls. It's his grin that fuels my fire of ridiculousness. "You know I quit the biz a long time ago."

The guys closest to us started laughing, and Riley pulled on the end of my ponytail before grabbing where the tie was holding it back and using my loose hair as a whip. "I'm glad you didn't grow up to be a slut," he said with all the seriousness that is Riley Biers.

I started choking from the laugh that got stuck in my throat. Cocking my head to look at Ri, I karate chopped him gently in the throat, making him gag. "I couldn't. You stole that role from me."

"Asshole," he laughed, pulling on my hair one more time.

Emmett walked back to the table then carrying a large glass bowl between his paws. There were already eleven pieces of folded paper inside from earlier. When we were deciding what to do for Felix's birthday celebration and karaoke had been decided, we'd agreed that each person would write down a song that we wanted to see performed. It had to be a popular, top 40s type a some point. The problem was that there were some of us—moi included—that aren't very musically inclined, so the consensus had been that we could pair up if we wanted to, and people like Jake and Edward could choose more than one song from the bowl.

"Choose your doom, bitches," Em called out, placing the bowl in the middle of the two tables we had pushed together.

Jamie, my partner, elbowed me to get me to pick out our choice. We'd agreed to go first to get it over with. Each person or team—there was only one other duet that consisted of Eric and the tech guy— would choose a slip when their turn was up, to keep the choices a surprise. "Let's see what we—," I start to tell James as I opened up the slip to see Justin Bieber, _Baby_ written on there. "Damn it, Emmett!"

My brother looked over at us and grinned. "How do you know it's mine?"

"Mom," I groaned. It was the song he'd saved as his personal ringtone on our Mom's phone when he calls her. Fucking idiot. Something about him being sugary sweet and her baby. If that wasn't enough, it's his chicken scratch handwriting. I'd spent enough time trying to replicate it when we were younger and he'd pay me to do his homework.

He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, yeah."

James made a face and sighed. "I guess it could be worse."

I couldn't even disagree with him. It could be. He got up to join me with hulking shoulders, and Felix threw his hand out to knuckle bump me on our walk to the stage. The karaoke stage was one of the biggest ones I'd ever seen, but fortunately, I don't get stage fright easily. The guy working to the side of the stage asked us what song we wanted to sing and when we told him, he laughed but nodded, gave us each a microphone and waved us up. My brother had already spoken to him about our large group and we'd agreed to go every-other with the other people at the bar.

"SMELLA!" my brother bellowed from the table.

I could see them all laughing their asses off when the music started up and the lyrics popped up on the screen behind us. I looked at Jamie and slapped him on the back. "Remind me never to do this again unless I've been drinking," I told him, pulling the mic away from my face.

He grinned and nodded. "Remind me never to do this again period."

Then we started. I was the "baby" and James was the "_ohhh."_ We were only about a quarter through the song when I was laughing too hard to actually sing along. The rest was just an awkward mess of mumbles and the guys catcalling.

"I want to be your baby, James!" That was Emmeline.

"Be mine, Bella!" Riley cackled.

When it was finally over, we bowed and ran off the stage. A few people I didn't know threw out their hands for high-fives as we made our way back to the table. The guys all started whistling at us as we got closer to the table, and I went to sit down in James' old seat to be next to Edward.

"How bad was it?" I laughed, asking him.

He was grinning from ear to ear. "You weren't bad at all, but I mean, you won't be invited to perform at VH1 Divas anytime soon," he laughed. "Or ever."

"Jerk." I poked him in the side and smiled. It'd only been two days since my breakfast with Emmett and Jake, and I'd thought long and hard about what they'd said. Did Edward really like me? My deductive reasoning said yes, but I was still too scared to be the one to say something. To say anything.

Riley went up a few minutes later when no one else approached the stage and sang along to _Beat It_, which was fucking atrocious but funny enough to make me cry. But it was when my brother went up to sing to _My Heart Will Go On_ but decided to start stripping that it got ridiculous.

"Take it off!" Felix had yelled.

Em started peeling up his shirt, which made me scream, "Put it back on! Put it back on!"

I don't think it was intentional for that song, but it was then that I felt Edward put his arm around the back of my seat. I'd turned to look at him over my shoulder and gave him a little, shy smile. We stayed like that through Felix and then Eleazar's set, until he decided it was his turn.

Something warm pressed against my bare shoulder as he pushed his head back and I knew he'd kissed me there. But then a moment later, he was pulling a slip of paper out of the bowl and marching up to the stage, shaking his head the entire time. It was when the opening beats to _Since U Been Gone_ by Kelly Clarkson started that I almost peed myself laughing. It was the one I'd chosen.

To no one's surprise, and thankfully for our ears, Edward hit the high notes without a problem while he strutted around the stage. When he got back to the table, he resumed his position in the seat with his arm around the back of my chair but this time closer than he'd been before. He'd leaned forward like me and it was dark enough so that no one could see him press his lips against the same spot he'd kissed before.

I shivered and didn't say a word. But I did edge closer to him.

We stayed like that quietly until it was his turn to go again after Jake's rendition of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Felix's choice of Chumbawamba's _Tubthumping_ had him and my brother joining him onstage about halfway through.

There were still a couple more papers in the bowl by the time he was done.

"I think you should start a Chumbawamba cover band," I told him when he sat down next to me.

He slid his arm over the back of my chair again, smooth like silk. "I'll do it after I finish my Vanilla Ice gigs."

"Oooh, that would've been a good one to put in the bowl. I'd like to see your little white ass up there trying to rap _Ice, Ice, Baby_," I snickered.

His eyes narrowed. "You think I have a little ass?"

I was on dangerous ground and I knew it. But Emmett's words filtered through my system, through my heart. What did I have to lose besides my dignity? "No. I think you have a great ass."

Those pale green eyes went wide, and he said nothing. He just looked at me. And then he leaned forward and pressed those warm, full lips against that spot on my jaw that ended at my ear.

His phone lit up then, it'd been sitting on top of the table the entire time, and I glanced down in a daze from the most intimate kiss I'd ever gotten. What distracted me wasn't at all that he'd gotten a text message from his Mom, but the fact that the background was a picture of me he'd taken at dinner one day when I shoved two pieces of napkin in my nostrils because I had a runny nose.

There wasn't a trace of embarrassment or fear in his eyes when I looked up at him.

* * *

><p><strong>In case any of you are too young to remember Tubthumping, google it. <strong>

**Also, I don't have anything against Justin Bieber. He seems like a nice kid even if I don't listen to his music.**

**Andddd, *wipes brow* anyone else used to do their siblings homework? My older brother would pay me twenty bucks an assignment. It does in fact pay to be a nerd. xoxo -Mariana**


	33. Chapter 33

**As quickly as I can possibly write because I'm feeling like a piece of crap: IF YOU READ CHAPTER 33 LAST NIGHT BEFORE I TOOK IT DOWN, READ THIS ONE! I originally posted another chapter because I jumped the gun but I changed my mind. So sue me. I love the journey more than I do the destination. So I've rearranged what I wanted, so here's 33 and I posted 34 along with it.**

**If you wrote me today about chapter 33, I'll write you back tomorrow when/if I'm feeling better. My head feels like a sack of vomit-covered potatoes.**

**Thank you all for winning at life.**

**Don't steal my story.**

* * *

><p>"Get it off!" Felix howled, shimmying his back in front of Edward.<p>

Edward, who's doubled over laughing his ass off and not giving half a shit about the fact that his friend just got shit on by a bird.

Twice.

What are the odds of getting crapped on by birds _twice_ in one day. Twice in less than an hour?

I wanted to help him. Really. I did. But I couldn't stop laughing either. We were at King's Park in Perth; me, Edward, Felix, my brother, and Jasper. And none of us could function correctly at that moment.

"Quit laughing and wipe it off!" Felix was practically screeching as he made his stop in front of me in hopes that I'd help him.

I did, but it's a shaky process through a serious bout of the giggles when I'm capable of wiping off the poo for the second time in the day. A second later another bird swarmed overhead and made him start cursing in annoyance and fear. There's most definitely fear in his tone at what could happen. It's bad enough to get pooped on once, but twice? And in front of Emmett and Edward? There was no way Felix was ever going to be able to live that down.

"I feel like I should take a shit on you too now," Emmett cackled, slapping the poor guy on the back. "I feel like I'm missing out if I don't."

The same bird swooped dangerously over our heads, and I'm crying, imagining the look of pure horror on Felix's face all over again.

"You better run before they come after you again," Edward teased him through a gulp of air, stole a glance in my direction, and then he laughed some more. This loud, belly-aching laugh that makes me laugh more.

I'm not sure how it happened but Edward and I are suddenly leaning on each other, forehead to forehead despite the near foot in height difference. Warm breath on warm breath as we're cracking up. I'm pretty sure Felix gave us the finger before he went stomping off to the exit that's on the other side of the park, but I don't care to pay attention. Em and Jasper follow after him, furthering annoying him even more for being a victim of poop abuse.

When my chest finally started craving a lungful of breath, I pulled away and plopped down on the nearest bench to collect myself. Edward's grinning another smile that I love, it's huge and undefined. Happiness and amusement in its most pure form.

"Would you laugh at me that much if I got crapped on?" I asked him.

He looked at me seriously, but it's not serious at all, I can tell by his eyes. "What do you think?" When I smirked at him, he winked and laughed. "I'd probably laugh harder, princess, and take a picture to keep with me forever."

Picture. I'm reminded of the picture I found on his phone the night before and I smile. And then I smile more because I can't help it. I settled for a shrug to show how much I'm able to enjoy his teasing, the happiness he gets out of messing with me always is more valuable to me than food and that's assaying a lot. If the roles were reversed and it was him? There's no doubt in my mind I would've documented it. "Too true." I laughed. "I'd frame it and put it in front of my toilet, so every time I sit down on it, I can laugh."

"I don't know how I feel about you looking at me while you're—," he made a face, "using the bathroom."

I gave him a shrug, which only made him shake his head, and thrust out a hand in my direction.

"Let's go catch up to them," Edward said, wiggling those long, slim fingers in front of me.

"I don't want to walk anymore," I whined. We'd been walking around for hours and I'd brought the wrong shoes. Before the whole shitting incident, we'd all agreed to take a break and eat something at the café but now…

Edward raised an eyebrow and moved his fingers in my face more. "C'mon. I'll give you a piggyback ride," he offered.

Piggyback ride? Yes. Piggyback ride on Edward's back? Double, triple, infinity yes. I slapped my fingers out and took his hand without a second thought, letting him pull me up. The expression of excitement on my face must have given me away at least a little because he rolled his eyes playfully before turning his back to me.

"Hop on before I leave you to the birds," he threatened.

"Yes, sir," I told him while I jumped as high as I could on his back. He grabbed the backs of my thighs and hoisted me up a little more while I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Let's go, my chariot. No pooping on the walk, I've cleaned up enough shit for the day."

"No promises," he laughed and slapped me high on my thigh before starting our walk down the path. We're both quiet for all of a minute or two before Edward turned his head a little so that his cheek his pressed against mine. Despite the fact that he hadn't shaved that morning, I liked the prickle of his hair against my face. "I like the way you smell."

"I took a shower this morning," I reminded him while being shameless and inching my face closer to his.

"Was today your once-a-week shower?" he asked, and I could feel the crinkle in his cheek that tells me he's smiling.

I sighed. "_Twice_ this week, champ. Consider yourself lucky."

Edward stopped walking. "Should I call Guinness? Tell them about your new record?"

I pressed my cheek flat against his when I laughed. "Jackass."


	34. Chapter 34

**Most of this was the original chapter 33, so if you read it last night, the last quarter was the only thing changed. xo.**

* * *

><p>I learned on my piggyback ride that Edward's Mom had texted him the night before because she was meeting us in Perth along with her husband. Even though we only had two more dates left for Australia before we were off the U.S. for a day, I thought it was pretty fucking sweet that his parents had planned a vacation to come see their grown kid. I was glad when my mom and dad went to my graduation.<p>

Where Mrs. Masen was a delicate beauty with the same color hair as her son and daughter, her personality was also identical to her youngest. I could hear her bickering to him from across the venue as they headed in my direction.

" —that girl's a crayon short of a full box, Edward. I don't know why you ever thought there was a future with her," she chastised him with a huff.

"Mom," Edward groaned.

"You know she had the nerve of asking if you'd talked to me about getting back together? I'd rather have you yank my eyelashes out one at a time."

The man I could only assume to be Mr. Masen laughed loudly. "Esme, you're such a drama queen. Tanya was never that bad."

"Says the man who didn't have to listen to her talk about how Edward's career is a waste of time. _A waste of time!_ The only child who inherited my gift and she's calling it a waste? It's a miracle I didn't die from a heart attack when I heard her," Mrs. Masen gasped.

It was Edward's turn to laugh. "Well, luckily, I told her no. Okay? You can keep your eyelashes."

They were about twenty-five feet away when Edward looked up to catch my eyes in their direction. He smiled, this grand, beaming thing that made my chest shimmer on the inside. We hadn't gotten a chance to talk since the whole kiss on the neck thing the night before. I'd fallen asleep on the ride home and barely made it to my room intact.

"Mom," Edward said, catching her attention when they stopped in front of where I was sitting on top of cardboard boxes. Mrs. Masen turned to face her son but then quickly glanced in my direction when she caught his smile on mine. "This is Bella. Bella this is my Mom and Dad."

I stood up and thrust my hand out at Mrs. Masen first before shaking Edward's Dad's hand. He looked just like a male version of Rosalie, like Edward had warned me weeks before. "It's nice to meet you," I told them.

I knew I wasn't exactly at my best, but I'd opted into wearing jeans instead of sweats and a tight kids sweater I'd picked up in Brisbane that had a kangaroo on it with Australia written in rainbow letters; Emmett had been nice enough to braid my hair after I'd promised to give him Tylenol in return for his headache. Like I wouldn't have given it to him regardless.

"It's nice to meet you too, Bella," Mr. Masen said, shaking my hand.

I looked back over at Edward to see him mouthing something back and forth with his Mom who was waggling her eyebrows at him. When he caught me looking at them he grabbed his Mom's wrist to get her to stop. Mrs. Masen finally snapped her gaze back over to me, smiling sweetly.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Bella," she cooed right before throwing her arms open to wrap me in a hug.

I looked at Edward from over the top of his Mom's head, hugging her back as tightly as she was holding me. Nothing said pussy like a limp handshake or a wimpy hugger. He'd been talking about me to his Mom? I was going to start spontaneously ovulating at the rate he was going. He just gave me a little smile before I pulled away from Mrs. Masen.

"We're going to eat, Baby Ruth, want me to bring you something back?" he asked me, knowing that I couldn't leave so close to opening doors.

"Edward!" Eleazar started yelling at him from the back door.

He frowned and said something about being right back while his parents stayed with me. His Mom had a strange look on her face. "Did he just call you Baby Ruth?"

I nodded.

She looked over at her much taller husband and shared a smirk with him. "That's interesting."

The giggle that came out of me was nervous. "Is that a good thing? I've asked him about it but he just tells me that he likes eating them. Hopefully they don't…upset his stomach or something." I realized after the words came out of my mouth that they could've been considered sexual—but it wasn't like that at all. Yet. But I really hoped his Mom wouldn't think that too.

That same crooked smile Edward gave me when he was genuinely amused he shared with his Mom, who laid it on me. She turned to look behind her, saw that Edward was busy talking to Eleazar, and then took a step toward me.

Mr. Masen made a noise in his throat but she waved him off. "If there was anything that Edward would want to eat every day for the rest of his life, it would be those damn Baby Ruth bars." She smiled. "When he was little, he'd save up his allowance to buy them, and then he'd hide them in his dresser and eat them every chance he got. I'd find wrappers underneath his bed, under his mattress, in his shoes."

I couldn't help but smile, imagining a little Edward with baby suspenders trying to be sneaky and eat his candy. But I still didn't get what she was trying to tell me. That he really, really liked Baby Ruth bars and by default really, really liked me?

I saw Edward walking toward us and the shifting of my eyes must have told her that because she put a hand on my arm. "There's nothing that I like the way Edward likes those damn candy bars."

How could I not smile at that? Her message came across to me. It was the same thing in different words that Emmett and Jake had lanced me with days before. I smiled and smiled bigger each millisecond.

"My boy has always known what he wants, and he dives into things head first without hesitation."

She left me with those words, and Edward left me a minute later with the promise to bring me food when he came back. But I relished what she'd told me. What she'd confirmed, and even though it scared me, I didn't _want_ to be scared of how I felt for him. I wanted it, but I wanted to do it at his pace. At my pace. This thing between us was silent and thick. It was tangible and warm, and I wanted it whenever it was meant to happen.

That night, when he knocked on my door and I asked him for the password, he said, "Bella should get a gold medal for being alive."

I laughed because I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, like most things that came out of his mouth. "_Anddd?_"

"I have a present for you," he said following a chuckle.

"Permission granted, gentleman," I told him, opening the door with a smile on my face.

He grinned as he shuffled in, kicking off his shoes as he pushed a yellow bag in my direction. "I saw it when I went to dinner with my parents," he explained before I'd even yanked the bag open.

"You're spoiling me," I looked up at him briefly before pulling out a small white shirt with with a baby kangaroo on it, the words _Call Me Joey _written in lime green bubble letters. I laughed and threw my arms around Edward a split second later, aiming for his waist. "Thank you, Fancy."

Edward squeezed me back, wrapping his arms over the tops of my shoulders. "You're very welcome."

We stayed like that for a moment, then two moments, five moments, eight moments. One of his arms loosened around me before I felt him smooth a hand down the back of my wet hair. "You know you don't have to buy me stuff, right?" I asked him. "I'd let you in even if the only thing you brought was bad breath."

He laughed while rubbing that free hand smoothly over the small of my back. "I know."

"Okay."

His hand slipped an inch up the back of my shirt, fingertips brushing my bare skin at the same time his mouth dipped down to temple. "I like that you don't expect me to buy you things, that's why I like to do them." Something tugged at my brain, making me think of Ronalda and how Edward would pull her chair out for her, and how she wanted him to sacrifice so much for her. Maybe he did things like that because she demanded it? I pushed the thought away, not wanting to think of her when it was me in this moment with this beautiful man.

"Thank you, anyway." I told him dumbly, breathlessly.

Edward pulled away just an inch before dipping my head back. He gave me that sly, seductive smile. "Beautiful girl," he breathed, kissing my cheek softly, "you're the easiest person in the world to please."

I tried to give me a frown, but it was impossible. "Is that a good thing?"

His smile morphed again, into one that made me think of a secret."It's a great thing."

* * *

><p><strong>I promised an EPOV. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of time. But a promise is a promise sooo... I'm pulling an ILMN. When we get to *looks at reviews* 1,000, I'll write one. I may or may not be trying to buy myself time :P (On a reminiscing note, I remember how it took me 29 chapters to get to one hundred reviews less than a year ago for another story. You guys kill me. I flove you.) xoxo -Mariana<strong>


	35. Chapter 35

**You guys make me laugh so much. I asked for reviews for an EPOV and you doubled your efforts, so THANK YOU! (even if you are awfully sneaky) Thank you to whoever rec'd TGGT on ADF! Here's a short chapter, the next one is halfway done. I'm feeling better today but not waaay better. And in regards to my change last update, most of you know you can trust me. It's for the best. I had a vision and I really liked the flow of it better. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Blah bitty blah.**

* * *

><p>"He doesn't know," I told him.<p>

Edward made a face. "He knows."

I couldn't help but snort as we looked at my brother flopping around the floor in his damn Crocs. We'd been sitting behind my merch table for about half an hour, talking about our favorite birthday memories. I'd told him all about how I'd insisted on a ballerina cake for three years in a row, and he admitted to having a Thomas the Train cake for his birthday when he was a kid. Somehow we'd wiggled our way onto our siblings, and obviously, I had the most ridiculous one.

"He knows what month, but he doesn't know the date," I clarified.

"Nah, he knows."

Emmett threw a drumstick in the air, and then tried to catch it by pulling the waistband of his pants out to catch it… with his ass crack, I can only assume. "No way."

Edward and I turned to look at each other and we each made a weird face.

"I bet you twenty bucks he doesn't know the day," I told him with a snort while watching my brother try his trick again.

He slapped my back gently and nodded. "Deal." Edward brushed off his pants, winked at me and yelled across the venue, "Emmett!"

Emmeline turned to look at him before extending his arms out of his sides. "What's up?"

"When's Bella's birthday?"

My brother frowned. "September!"

I snickered and smacked Edward in the side with the back of my hand. "What day in September?"

Emmett coughed. "September mhhmmhhm."

"What was that?" I asked him, trying my best to hold back a laugh.

"September aaaahhummmhhhmmhmm," he garbled again, saying the month really loudly and then trailing off in volume as soon as he got to the date. I couldn't help but laugh, which only made Emmett frown again before shooting me the finger. "It's in the middle of the month!"

"What did I tell you?" I asked my green-eyed friend through my chuckling. "If you ask him what day our Mom's birthday is, he'll tell you April thirty-first."

Edward smiled. "But there's only thirty days in April."

I waggled my eyebrows. "Exactly."

"I know my sister's birthdays, if I forgot, they'd probably skin my nuts," he paused and thought about it. "Well, Rosalie would. Esme would probably put an ad on Craigslist for a one-night stand and put my number as the contact," he laughed.

"That's a good one," I laughed too. "I'll have to remember that in case you ever piss me off."

He mocked a gasp. "Me? Piss you off, princess? Whatever do you mean?"

"Shut your mouth." I elbowed him in the rib. "It's bound to happen one day. You'll catch me on my period again or something."

Edward stuck his tongue out at the corner of his mouth. "I survived this month at least."

"You bribed me into your good graces." I held up a light-up koala keychain he'd given me the week of my Australian period.

He flicked the keychain first and then flicked my chin. "You remind me of the Hulk. Instead of meditating to keep calm, presents and candy keep you sane," he laughed.

I couldn't even get mad because it was the truth. It also definitely helped that we'd gotten so close over the last three weeks we'd been traveling.

And he hadn't talked to Ronalda.

Score one for me.

Later that night, when GG was on, Emmett had trailed to the merch area to sign some autographs.

"Smella?" he yelled into my ear while I was giving the onstage version of Edward googly eyes.

There was something about him in those fitted pants, button-up shirt, and tie that made my blood run ten degrees hotter. It might have been because it was so at odds with the shorts and t-shirt wearing, tennis shoe loving Edward that I was fond of, that made it so much hotter. He always had his tattoos covered up when he was onstage and it made me miss those thick bands of black that striped his arm.

"Huh?"

A finger slicked across my bottom lip. "You need a bib," Emmeline laughed.

I laughed too while I shot him a dirty look. "Leave me alone. You don't see me raining on your parade when you're flirting with girls."

He started to say something else but Edward started talking over the microphone about some guy in the audience wearing a Christmas hat and how Christmas was his favorite holiday. "But it's not my favorite day in the year," he said with a smile at the crowd.

Emmett leaned into me. "It's steak and BJ day."

I leaned away from him, smirking. "That's _your_ favorite holiday," I told him, earning an excited nod.

The opening rift swept through the venue as Edward stood on one of the floor speakers and pressed the microphone against his lips. "Nine-thirteen!" he screamed into it before the loud crash of the drums signaled the rest of the song.

This. Guy.

"Labor Day is his favorite?" Emmett asked me with a confused look on his face.

I was grinning while I punched him in the stomach.


	36. Chapter 36

**And we continue our journey. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>Edward poked me in the side. "Stay awake."<p>

I didn't even bother covering my yawn as I eyed him sleepily. The last time I'd looked at the clock, it showed that it was after three in the morning. We'd been watching Ocean's Eleven on the television in my room, but I started fading right at the beginning. Em had woken me up around nine to tell me that our flights the next morning had been cancelled and that we'd be leaving the next afternoon instead.

I don't know why he didn't just tell me at a normal hour in the day, but then again, I didn't know why my brother did half of the things that he did.

My green-eyed, self-proclaimed best friend was laying on my bed, shoulders pressed against the headboard while I sat cross-legged next to him, nodding off. "I'm sleepy, but you can stay," I told him with a yawn again.

"Come here," he murmured, patting the empty space between our bodies.

What do you do when a man like Edward Masen wants you to lie down next to him? You do it. Preferably naked, but I was too tired to even think anything more suggestive than that. So I settled for a sleepy smile and untangled my legs to wiggle into that spot. I stretched out next to him while he moved to lie flat against the bed, extending his right arm out for me to lay on top of. He curled his arm as soon as I settled in, bringing me over so that I had my head on his chest.

And I may have draped my arm over his stomach.

"You're warm," I mumbled against his black t-shirt.

"You smell good," he told me. "Like oatmeal."

I yawned again and blinked, trying my best to stay awake and enjoy this closeness. I'd forgotten to bring up his comment onstage earlier. On the ride to dinner and the hotel, Riley had wrangled me into playing a band name again. It was one of the ways we'd found to eat up time when we were bored. We had to name a band that started with the last letter of the band mentioned before. I'd lost but I put up a long fight at least.

"I like your favorite day of the year," I said, angling my head up so that my forehead was against his jaw.

His free hand brushed against the arm I had wrapped around him as he chuckled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"It's crazy you share the same birthday with my mom."

His arm paused. "I do?"

Edward let out a laugh. "No, princess. Her birthday's in February."

"Ass," I laughed weakly, digging my fingertips into his ribs.

He squirmed before pulling my hand off and covering my fingers with his. "She liked you, I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing the same birthday."

"I liked her too, she's funny." She was. We had a post-show dinner with her two days before, when she and Mr. Masen had taken the entire package out to eat. The woman was saucy and had a mouth on her, which equaled instant love on my behalf. It turned out she'd been an opera singer up until a few years back, and apparently, the genetic source of Edna's talent.

It was his turn to yawn. "Sit with me tomorrow?"

"As long as you—," I let out another long yawn, "let me sleep on your legs, and I'll let you nap on mine."

"Deal."

I pressed my forehead closer to his smooth jaw. "You owe me twenty for our other deal, but I'll let you slide on it."

His chest rumbled under my face. "I forgot about that, but thanks." Edward squeezed me to him with a sigh. "Go to sleep, Baby Ruth," he said in his quiet voice.

"Okay," I mumbled.

Edward stroked my arm with his fingers, once, twice, three times. "Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, dormez-vous? Dormez-vous? Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines, ding ding dong, ding ding dong," he sang softly.

I smiled against him, tilting my head up, up, up. "Goodnight, Fancy."

He stroked my arm once more before I felt him shift beneath me, his head tucking deeper into his chest. And it was sleepy, and warm, and sweet, but it was perfect. He pressed his lips against mine gently just for a moment, and then he kissed my nose.

Even in my nearly delirious state, I recognized that sinking feeling deep in my chest. No eclipse could overshadow the fact that I was in love with this guy, and it was the easiest and simplest thing in the world.


	37. Chapter 37

**I have to be up in five hours to go bridesmaid dress shopping. Flove you guys, thanks for being the best.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own shit.**

* * *

><p>"You look comfy," Edward drawled with a smile. He was sitting on the bench in front of me, with his bright red hoodie sleeves pushed up to his elbows. God, he was so cute.<p>

I looked down at the two men sleeping on me. My brother had his head on my lap, drooling, while Riley had his head on my shoulder—also drooling. Despite the fact that it was two in the afternoon, the two were apparently exhausted over whatever craziness they'd experienced the night before. All I understood from their rambling babblings was something about a strip club and girls.

I didn't want to know anything more. I wasn't in the mood to become scarred for life.

So now they were passed out on top of me, soaking my hoodie and jeans with their saliva but I didn't have the heart to push them off. The drive to the airport was a little less than an hour and they were taking full advantage of it.

"I've been more comfortable," I smiled at him, thinking about when I'd woken up that morning.

Edward had been wiggling under me, trying to ease me onto the bed as gently as possible. He'd pressed a kiss on my cheek, told me he had an interview and that he'd see me later, then he blew hot morning breath on my face and left. Only I would think that was charming, but I was too tired to really care.

His phone started ringing for the fourth time since we'd gotten into the van, and he sighed. Again. It wasn't my business to ask who he was avoiding but the curiosity was fucking killing me. Jasper, who was sitting next to him, grunted in frustration.

"Answer the phone, man. I'm sick of hearing it ring," he complained softly.

I could see Edward roll his eyes before pulling out his phone and shifting his position to face forward. Immediately, I got a little wary of his action. There'd been a handful of times that his parents or his sisters had called while we were together and he'd answered their calls without a second thought. He didn't care if I heard what was said but his hesitation at answering the call told me there was something he was trying to avoid.

I trusted him. A lot. He hadn't given me a reason to doubt that he cared for me or that he was honest, but… it had only been two months. It had taken Tyler three years to fuck up.

"Smella," Emmeline groaned from my lap as his hand started feeling around my knee before landing on his face. He wiped at his lips and then patted the spot of drool he'd left on my pants. "Oh shit."

As much as I wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation that Fancy was having in front of me, my brother had decided to start yapping right then. Of course.

"Is that drool?" he mumbled.

"No, it's Kool-Aid, dumbass," I laughed , brushing my hand over the short ends of his hair that just barely started to curl.

Emmett smiled against my leg, making a noise that sounded like a low, sleepy chuckle. "Drink it later, then." He blinked twice before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

Gross.

The faint conversation from the seat in front of me made me stop breathing so I could hear better. What's funny was that everyone else who was awake in the van had lowered their voices when Edward started talking. It'd only taken me a few weeks to learn that these guys were worse at gossiping than teenage girls on a CW sitcom. Even though they tried to play off their interest, they ate up anything that caught their attention.

Like the time Felix had gotten a blow job in the nastiest bathroom I'd ever seen.

Or the time that a fan had asked my brother, Jake, and Eleazar if he could lick their shoes.

Then there was the time that Riley—

There were a lot of things that had happened that the guys had been all too excited about.

And obviously, there was something about this conversation that caught their attention.

"I already told you… Tan, I'm not changing my mind…" Edward spoke into the receiver. "No, there's no one else. I don't want to get back together because it's my choice. My decision. Just like you decided you didn't want to be together, I don't want to be together anymore…" I felt like I'd been stabbed as he talked. "Tanya, I care about you. You know that. You mean a lot to me but that doesn't mean I want to be with you, but I'm done telling you this over and over again."

I could see his reflection in the glass. His eyes were closed and his forehead was pressed against the cool window. My heart was beating frantically even though I _know_ it shouldn't. Nothing that Edward was saying was technically wrong. Technically. It was his choice that he didn't want to get back together with his ex. He did care about her. I mean, they'd been together for a while.

But—

But—

But—

I felt sick. Edward cared about me too. I knew that he did. Every freckle on my nose knew it. But maybe that's why he hadn't put more of a move on me? Because he didn't want to be tied down to anyone? I'd read too many books that told me there was a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone.

My realization and acceptance from the night before was strangling. I was in love with a man who loved me but maybe didn't love me the way that I wanted. That I'd been told. Why did I feel betrayed that he still cared about Ronalda? Edward was a nice guy. The nicest guy. It was probably just in his system to care for people but…

I reached over Em's big body to grab the backpack he had on his lap, and I fished out his Benadryl from the front pocket.

My ears were going to bother me on the plane.

And it was also a bonus that the pills would make me sleepy in an hour, right around the time we'd be waiting to board our first flight.

* * *

><p><strong>1) TRUST ME. Remember we love Edward. Say it with me, <em>we love Edward.<em>**

**2) The shoe-licking thing is a true story. Blehhhh. **


	38. Chapter 38

**You guys rock. Thank you all for everything. I'm off to bed.**

***If you wanted to know who got their shoe licked, it was my boyfriend and a handful of people he was touring with. Weird!***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. **

* * *

><p>I slept my way to Dubai, and somehow managed to make it to London without speaking more than twenty words to Edward. When we caught our connecting flight, it turned out that he was sharing a seat with a stranger so I sat with my brother and Jake. Jake—who had heard the same conversation I had—gave me a sympathetic smile but didn't say a word.<p>

When we finally landed in London, the promoter for the tour drove us in a sprinter van to a hotel where we'd be staying the night before getting picked up by the bus the next day.

I made an effort to stand and sit away from my green-eyed friend. My mood was pretty rotten and I was groggy from the Benadryl I'd taken, so I didn't want to rain on anyone's parade. As excited as I'd been about going to Europe, I didn't feel like doing a freaking thing on our first day off and it was to no surprise why my little raft felt like it was sinking. Everyone was so relieved to be on land again and I definitely wasn't going to be the party pooper in the bunch bringing everybody else down.

Emmett had waved me off when I got settled in my room and said he'd be back for me later. I think he knew something was bothering me but he was smart enough to know not to ask me about it until later. Even though he'd inherited that Swan temper, bits and pieces of it were still etched into my chromosomes. He was well aware of what to expect when I was in a slump.

But what I didn't take into consideration was that Edward knew me.

When there was a knock on my door a few hours after we'd been dropped off, I didn't bother asking who was there because I'd assumed it was Em. But it wasn't.

"You didn't ask for the password," Edward said with a frown.

I shrugged and opened the door wider for him to come in. "I thought you were Emmett," I answered him simply.

"Oh." Edward eyed me critically as he stepped into my tiny room. He'd showered since the last time I'd seen him, dressed in jeans and a white v-neck. He dropped his long body onto my bed. "What are we doing today?"

Closing the door, I turned to look at him while attempting to ease the thunder going on in my heart. "I was planning on just staying in."

"I thought you wanted to walk around?" He raised a dark eyebrow.

Another shrug. "Maybe later. I'm tired, but I'm sure someone else can go with you."

Edward just blinked at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired." I insisted.

"Bella," he groaned, rubbing his hands up and down his pant legs.

I gave him the weakest smile in existence. "I'm just tired and groggy. The Benadryl I took earlier messed me up."

He blinked again. "Just tell me what's wrong. You're being weird."

"I'm fine," I pleaded. "I just want to be alone right now."

Those gray-green eyes twitched in disbelief and possibly hurt. "Don't do this to me again."

"What?" I asked him even though I kind of already knew what he was trying to hint at.

"You're pushing me away. Again."

"Edward, I'm not—"

He grimaced. "See, you never call me Edward." He pushed off the edge of my bed to stand. "Tell me what's wrong."

I shook my head and averted my eyes at the ceiling. I hadn't let myself cry. Sure my eyes had teared up and I'd swiped at them a few times but that was it. "It's nothing," I whispered.

"You're lying," he replied.

I was and I hated it. I wasn't a liar. Maybe sometimes I left things out by omission but I didn't like lying, and I was terrible at it. But what would I tell him? The truth? _Hey Fancy, I realized I was in love with you last night, and then you told your ex that you care about her but that there isn't anyone else in the picture._ Right.

When he gripped my wrist with his warm palm, I sucked in a breath. "Bella."

Emmett had told me once a very long time ago that you weren't living unless you took risks. But risks were scary. I didn't deal with rejection well. But what was four more weeks? It'd be easier for me to ignore him for that time than it would be for me to lie and pretend that I was fine when I wasn't.

"Tell me, princess," he said with a squeeze to my wrist.

I'd never really considered myself very brave before. Usually I found my strength from people like Em, who wasn't scared of things, or Alice. My trust in others was usually the reassurance I needed to do things that made me nervous. I knew that they would never do anything to put me in harm's way. But this was all me. This thing with Edward was without a crutch.

Four more weeks.

I sighed and looked everywhere but at him. "I looked into something more than I should have and now I just feel… stupid. That's it."

"What was it?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I thought that someone liked me but I realized that maybe it wasn't the same kind of _like_ that I was hoping for," I told him slowly, meeting his eyes in the greatest act of bravery I'd ever accomplished singlehandedly.

His beautiful face was covered by a blank expression. "Who?" he asked me slowly.

Jesus F. Christ. I swallowed hard. "Who what?"

"Who doesn't like you?"

I swear to God I rolled my eyes. "You're a nice guy, Fancy. I know that. It's not in your nature to be a complete dick, and that's okay. I get it. I like that about you a lot, but you don't have to pretend. At least don't pretend with me."

Edward's eyebrows furrowed before he scowled at me, confusion marring the planes of his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh my God," I moaned and went to take a step back but he held my wrist tight. Men. Idiot men.

"You think I don't like you?"

And I wanted to die. "I think you like me in a different way than I like you, if you must insist on knowing, damn it."

"What?" he hissed, taking a step toward me. "Why the fuck would you think that?"

My eyes went to the ceiling again. I didn't want to have this conversation. Every fiber in my being was revolting against me. "Me and everyone else on the freaking bus heard your phone conversation. _No one special._ You care about your ex-girlfriend but you don't want to get back together with her." I tugged my arm back uselessly. "I get it. It's fine."

But it wasn't.

Edward let out a long breath. "You really think that I don't like you?" he took another step toward me. "You heard what I told Tanya and you think that what I said to her changes anything?" When I didn't say anything in response he scoffed. "Bella, I can tell you that I hate you. I can tell you that I think you're the worst person I've ever met. The ugliest girl on the planet. I can tell everyone in the audience tomorrow that I'm gay, but do you think that changes a single thing?

I'm not gay. There's nothing _ugly_ about you, and I think you're the best best friend I've ever had, Baby Ruth. I know that you don't know Tanya, but that was the only way I knew I could get to her. If I'd told her that I thought you were the best thing on the planet, it would've made her relentless. Tanya's an only child, and a horribly spoiled one at that. She doesn't know what _no_ means. And it's no one's business but mine how I feel about you," he said quickly.

As much as his words warmed me, they weren't what I wanted. They weren't a fleck of a confirmation. They were an explanation that made complete sense to me but that didn't ease my worry enough. "I get it. You're my best friend too," I told him with a sigh. "But that's not—"

"Is the sun the biggest thing in space?" he asked me softly.

I had to think about that one for all of a split second before I shook my head, confused at what he was asking me. "No."

"How do you explain to the sun that there are stars far away that dwarf it?" He lowered his face to mine. "You're an idiot if you think that you're no one special to me. You're the most special, Bella." His mouth hovered over mine. "The most."

He pulled me to him so fast I couldn't even process it. His hand was cupping my cheek and pushing our faces together, his soft lips were filled with purpose when they covered mine with so much force I couldn't think to breath. Edward's tongue was brushing against the seam of my mouth before he angled his lips over mine to kiss me as deeply as possible. He tasted faintly like mint.

Two hands cradled my face suddenly as he held us together, like he was worried I'd try to pull away. He moaned deep in his throat when I kissed him back with the same intensity he kissed me. One of his hands drifted to the back of my neck, gripping it strongly while his other hand wrapped around my waist and pulled my lower body flush against his. Every lean muscle of his upper body pressed against mine, bunching and flexing with the force of his actions.

Until he pulled away a fraction of an inch to give my neck a wet, open-mouth kiss. "Do I need to spell it out for you, princess pie?"

I shivered and nodded, tilting my head more openly toward him. "I think so."

* * *

><p><strong>HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! xoxo -mariana<strong>


	39. Chapter 39

**Hi guys. Thanks for rocking. We hit 1,000! Woo-hoo! Head on over to my profile page to check out "The Merch Girl"—your EPOV present for my reviews. I don't remember who rec'd me the name, but THANK YOU TIMES A KATRILLION! All credit goes to you. Okay, must continue with my Soccerward now. xoxo.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>"You hurt my feelings," I told Edward in a low voice.<p>

We'd settled onto my little bed in my tiny room after those initial kisses of… something awesome. I'd thought about not telling him how much his words bothered me but I decided against it. I'd already jumped in with both feet by telling him that it was him I liked and that it was him that made me feel stupid. At this point my dignity was around the block. Plus, what better way to have him smother me in his reassurances than guilt-tripping him into it?

"Bella," he sighed, reaching forward to wrap his long fingers around my wrist. Tugging me toward him, he patted the open space between his extended legs. It didn't take a genius to understand that he wanted me to sit between them, so I crawled over to sit just a couple of inches away from the juncture of his thighs. "That's the last thing I'd want to do."

I nodded, bringing my legs up to my chest. Something deep in my chest told me he was speaking the truth. "It's okay."

His hands landed on my shoulders and slowly inched their way down my arms, his smooth palms curving over my biceps and elbows. "It's not, princess," Edward replied. He leaned forward, molding his upper body around my curved back. "I'm sorry. I should've gotten that over with a long time ago."

Another nod made its way through my body.

"Baby Ruth," he whispered, bringing one hand up to drape the end of my ponytail over my shoulder. "You're not like anyone else I've ever met. You don't want the same things any other girl has ever wanted, and I don't know what I'm doing with you half the time." Edward chuckled. "I like you so much it makes me stupid."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I think you were already in that boat long before I came along, Fancy."

He laughed against the back of my neck, giving me another wet kiss there. "See? Not liking you is like fighting gravity."

"Lots of people don't like me," I scoffed. "Eleazar doesn't. Everyone else just puts up with me because of Emmett probably."

Lips planted themselves against my neck, twice. "You don't see things clearly," he snickered, nuzzling his nose against my throat. "You're special to a lot of people but especially me."

I looked at him over my shoulder, seeing those gray-green eyes much closer than I was used to. I wasn't fishing for compliments from him, or a reassurance in the love that people like my brother and Riley had for me. I knew that they cared for me. Their love was easy. Unconditional.

But it was this new thing, whether it was just a whole lot of like or love—_that_ I wasn't sure about. I'd grown up sharing things my entire life. There had never been a _mine_ option with Emmett and my parents in the picture, everything belonged to the community, but with Edward… there wasn't that option. There could never be that option.

"It's over though?" I asked him, looking down at the bed. "Between you and Ron—I mean Tanya?"

Another slow kiss landed on my throat, lingering the heat of a thousand fires. "I promise, princess bug."

"I can smell your bullshit a mile away," I warned him, trying my best to focus on what I was saying and not how horny he was making me with all those kisses.

Edward laughed low. "Oh, I know, princess. I don't expect any less."

A loud knock on my door snapped us out of our bubble. I groaned and jumped over his leg to get the door. Opening it up, my brother stood on the other side with his arms crossed over his chest.

"We're going on one of those cool, double decker tours. Put some shoes on," he said quickly, gesturing behind him with a kink of his head.

I stood there with my mouth open a second, which made him frown and look over my shoulder to see Edward sitting on my bed. A slow grimace covered Emmeline's face before he shuddered.

"Oh God, I'm going to be sick," he groaned before gagging.

I laughed and punched him in the stomach. "Shut up. We're fully clothed, dumb ass."

Em smiled quickly and winked at Edward. "Come on, Edward. You can translate what those tour guides are saying."

"They're speaking English," I told my brother, narrowing my eyes.

"But they have accents, Smella, _hello_."

I looked over my shoulder to see Edward shaking his head, so I snickered. "Luckily for you, Em, Edward speaks stupid, so he can translate."

* * *

><p><strong>Just in case someone doesn't get it, Emmett speaks stupid. Not English people. <strong>


	40. Chapter 40

**Quick update. You guys are amazing.**

**I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>"And you wonder why you don't have any friends."<p>

Edward shot me a look as he raked both hands through his short-cropped hair. He'd just finished telling me that I was out of my fucking mind for wanting to get on the ride. Those pale green eyes looked up again, taking in the ferris wheel type thing that was currently scaring the shit out of him. He blinked, and then blinked again. "I can't do it," he moaned.

"You're really that scared?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

Emmett and Jake were standing behind him, pointing at a group of girls that were to our right, and knowing them, they were planning on which girl would get hit on first. Thankfully, they weren't witnessing the freak-out that I thought Edward was about to have. He glanced at me again before looking at the London Eye warily.

"You're scared of heights?"

Edward swallowed. "I can handle _normal_ heights but that's too high. Way too tall," he let out in one breath.

I turned around to look at the looming attraction. It was pretty fucking tall. Even though I wasn't scared of heights, it was intimidating. Em had been the one to suggest that we get on after our double decker tour bus adventure. I was more than glad that we'd gotten through it without my brother insulting someone with the dumb shit that came out of his mouth. Jake had been the one to sit next to him, while Edward and I crowded together and hung off the edge of the bus taking in the sights.

It wasn't his first time visiting London, and it wasn't my brother's either, but I liked that they both went out of their ways to do things that they knew I hadn't done. Things that they wouldn't have done if I wasn't around. I couldn't imagine Em and Jake riding along on a tourist bus for fun. Hell, I was surprised Emmeline wasn't shit faced on a regular basis, but I wasn't about to bring it up.

"If you really don't want to get on, we don't have to," I told him, smiling just a little at his fear.

He groaned and looked up at the metal contraption behind me again, teeth grinding. "But you already got our tickets—"

"Oh lord, Fancy, I'd rather stay down here with you than have you flipping out up there," I poked him in his stomach. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. I'm scared of the dark, so don't judge me."

He raised an eyebrow at me, giving me the tiniest hint of a smile. "The dark?"

"Yep," I told him. "I have a night light."

He laughed, taking a step toward me. "For some reason I'm not surprised, Baby Ruth." His hands reached up to land on my shoulders, squeezing them lightly. "You now there's nothing to be scared of, right?"

I shrugged and looked behind me. "Have you seen scary movies? There's plenty of shit to be scared of. Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Chucky. No thanks."

Edward smiled that big grin that made my chest flutter. He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, making me drop my hands so I could circle him too. My head barely went up to his shoulder but it was perfect to get a good smell of him—all clean, fresh deodorant man. It probably should've been weird to me that less than a few hours ago, I didn't even want to speak to him, but it wasn't. He liked me. I liked him. And Ronalda was out of my Happy Meal. What more could I want besides a naked Edward?

"If they come after you, I'm there," he chuckled against my hair.

I laughed into his chest. "You'd probably push me into them and take off running."

"Maybe," he sputtered, squeezing me.

"Disgusting and Gross, ready to go?" Emmett asked from somewhere I couldn't see.

I turned my head to see my brother and Jake standing there, smirking, and I rolled my eyes. "I don't think we're getting on."

He gave me an incredulous look. We'd been riding rollercoasters together from before I was even tall enough to ride, so he knew there was a legitimate reason I wasn't getting on. "Why the hell not?"

Edward took a deep breath into my hair, and I knew he was getting ready to say something. But I didn't want to do that to him. To tell Emmett Swan you had a weakness was the equivalent of bleeding within a mile of a shark.

"I need to do number two," I told him without thinking and immediately cringed. Of all the things I could've said… Edward snorted.

He made a face and nodded. "Got it." Of course he would.

A few minutes later, him and Jake started trotting off toward the entrance to the Eye. Edward groaned for a minute before he started pulling me after them. "C'mon. If I pass out, at least break my fall."

My chest fluttered again at his small act of braveness. For me. Because he knew I wanted to get on. "I'll do you one better, I give you CPR if you need it."

"You're too kind," he smirked with wide eyes, looking at the ferris wheel again.

As soon as Em saw us in line behind me, he threw his arms out to the sides and asked in a voice way too loud, "I thought you needed to take a shit?"


	41. Chapter 41

**You guys are so good to me. Thank you a ton for all of your love and support. I'm sorry I don't write back reviews every chapter but please know that they're valued and appreciated. Anyway, we continue our journey to Fancy Pant's Pants ;) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>"Smella, I'd love a massage," Riley suggested to me, bumping his shoulder against mine.<p>

Turning my head to look at him, I bumped him back. We were sitting in our new bus: a fancy, perfect double decker tour bus that we were sharing with the new addition to our tour package. The first floor had all the kitchen and seating, while the upstairs had our bunk area. At that moment, Ri and I were sitting on one of the long couches eating fish and chips that my brother had scrounged up somewhere before the show ended.

It had been an amazing first day. We'd played shows all over the U.S. and Australia but London had been beyond perfect. The fans were different. The energy was different. And I was giggling my butt off at all the guys with their accents.

Edward had shot me a look when I told James that I was going to marry me an English man before the end of the tour.

Hah.

"Riley," I told him softly, biting into my fish. "I'd love to not have a period, but we don't always get what we want."

He barked out a laugh, dipping his fish into my vinegar. "Well, I'd love it if you didn't have a period either, you fucking psychopath." Riley winked at me before pulling on the end of my ponytail.

I snickered. "I'd love it if you took a shower."

"I did!" he gasped, knowing he was full of shit.

"Yesterday," I laughed.

Ri just smiled this sideways, teasing grin as he finished off the food on his plate. He stole a small piece of fish I had left, and then tried to distract me from his thieving ways by throwing an arm over my shoulder and leaning into me. "So, Smella, you and that kid together?"

"What kid?" I asked him in a low, secretive voice.

"Edward," he whispered back.

We were pretty much alone on the first floor with the exception of Eric and Felix who were on the other end of the bus. Everyone else was on the second floor doing God knows what. There really wasn't a point in him trying to be secretive, but I thought it was amusing anyway. The bastard tried to be quiet at the wrong times.

"I don't know, why?" I answered him, raising an eyebrow.

His dark blue eyes narrowed. "Because I need to know whether to tell him that I'll kill him if he does anything stupid," he said matter-of-factly.

I had to tuck my lips in to keep from smiling at his form of a threat. "Oh yeah?"

Riley nodded, tightening his hold over me. "Smella, you know I don't have any sisters—"

"Thank God," I let out one tiny snort, imagining a female Riley.

He glared at me. "But if we aren't getting married—"

"We never were," I reminded him with another snort.

"Then I need to make sure some douche bag isn't going to break your heart," he said before wincing. "Again."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his addition. "Thanks for the reminder, asshole."

Riley just smiled and shrugged. "I got him back for you, don't you worry there." The reminder of what had gone down in Seattle just made me laugh. They'd been so quiet about what exactly went on that would require Tyler to get three new tires. Why he hadn't gone for all four is beyond me, but knowing Riley, there was a reason.

That didn't mean it was necessarily a good reason, but whatever.

"Oh, Ri," I smiled at him, "what would I do without you?"

He shrugged, all loose muscles and languid smiles. "Dream about me."

"Ha!" I leaned toward him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Every day in my nightmares."

Riley snickered and squeezed me one more time before dropping his arm with a sigh. "Speaking of nightmares, your brother and your honey bun are coming over, and I think you made him jealous."

I rolled my eyes and got up to throw away both of our plates. Sure enough, Em and Edward were right behind me in no time. But my green-eyed friend, who had told the audience how he liked brunettes that night, didn't seem weird at all. The last thing I'd want to deal with was someone jealous over the likes of Riley. My Riley, who was like a hot adopted brother.

We hung out for a couple of hours downstairs, playing Uno while they told me places we should try to go while in England. I wasn't really tired but I went to bed at the same time as Emmeline, leaving Riley and Edward together.

At some point, I felt a hand on my ankle before I saw the little bit of light coming through my curtains. Blinking away my sleep, Edward's face appeared ducking into my bunk. His was directly above mine.

"I can't sleep," he whispered.

I yawned and waved him in. There wasn't too much room in my tiny little bed but I didn't care, and apparently, when he started climbing in, he didn't care either. I had to shuffle back so that my back was pressed against the wall behind me while he settled in, closing the curtain behind him.

"Sing me a lullaby." He slid his hand around me and pulled me toward him, lining us up so we were face to face.

My laugh was weak and sleepy as I kissed his soapy clean neck. "Rock a bye, baby—," I started. "Okay, goodnight."

Edward laughed really quietly into my skin, his hand stroking my lower back as he pressed his chest against mine. I could feel him tilting his head down to kiss the corner of my mouth. "Goodnight," he said, pressing those warm, warm lips to my sleepy ones.

Really, it wasn't his fault that he woke me up then. But seriously? How would he expect me to not reciprocate when that fantastic, full mouth touched mine?

Closed mouth kisses piled on top of one another, unhurried. Edward pulled back to let out s mall gasp, tucking me into him. His body was so warm and hard against mine that it took me all of thirty seconds to fall asleep after he kissed my mouth one last time.

* * *

><p><strong>I've gotten more requests for another chapter of The Merch Girl. I want to say 1,200 butttttttt we're too close. Let's say 1,300. We don't have a lot of chapters left *cries*. xoxo.<strong>


	42. Chapter 42

**Hai. An early TGGT update because I have a ton of things to work on before I fall asleep. Thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive. You guys are the best readers a girl could ever ask for. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I donut own Twilight, but right now I really wished I had a glazed donut. **

* * *

><p>Riley's question haunted me for a few days.<p>

_What were me and Edward?_

We spent most of our time together. Okay, that was a fat, stinky lie. We spent all of our time together when it was possible. Between interviews, soundchecks, and my brother taking me places, we didn't get to spend _all_ day together but that was fine. When it was possible, it happened.

During shows, he'd sneak to the merch area with his hoodie disguising him and talk to me. I'd take my break strategically before he went on to wish him good luck. During shows, he usually said something directed toward me. It was a blinding kind of thing, this love I had for him. It was mine and it made me happy, and I reveled in it.

But as much as his words and his kisses enveloped me, I still wondered. Calling us friends with benefits seemed so cheap, so unimportant. I knew he cared for me as more than just a friend. I could feel it in my bones.

One night though, a few days into the tour, it seemed like someone upstairs decided that they wanted to help me out with this state of confusion that had taken over.

A friend of one of the guys in the new band on the tour decided he liked his American meat.

Me.

All night, he'd been flirting with me. That lilting English accent whispered to me how cute he thought I was. It wasn't like I was going after his compliments or really paying the guy any attention, I'd just laugh and roll my eyes before trailing away to talk to James or Jake.

It was after the show, when we were outside waiting for the English band to finish loading up, when I walked over to the little group standing around. Edward was standing in the loose circle with Felix, and I recognized a couple of the other guys being in the band that had joined the tour, and the little flirt from earlier.

As soon as I saddled up next to Edward, he shot me a wide grin and side-shuffled over, throwing his arm over my shoulder. "Hi, princess."

I slipped my arm around his waist and smiled. "Hi."

One of the guys I didn't recognize cleared his throat, making Edward turn back in the direction of the other people. He pulled me in closer to him and gestured to me with his head. "Guys, this is my Bella. Princess this is—"

Time stopped.

I couldn't remember anything after he said my name.

My Bella.

_My Bella._

Not everyone's Bella. Not Smella. Not just plain, old Bella.

Edward's Bella.

The only thing I managed to catch was The Flirt raising an eyebrow because I was in fucking dream world.

When Edward slipped into my bunk later on, like he had the past couple nights, I raised an eyebrow. "I'm your Bella?" I asked him with a whisper as soon as we were settled under my sheets.

My pale green-eyed friend grinned that earth shattering smile that made my ovaries scream. "Yeah."

"Huh," I huffed.

Edward dipped his mouth to mine, wrapping a flexed arm around me to pull us chest to chest. "You didn't know that you're my girl?" He pressed a long, lingering kiss on my lips.

I kissed him back, trying to leave a similar impression on him. "I didn't get the memo."

"You didn't?" he asked in a teasing voice. When I shook my head, he pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth. "You're all mine."

"I am?"

He nodded. "Yup."

"So you're my Fancy?" I asked against his neck, brushing my mouth over the smooth skin right by his shoulder.

Edward groaned when I kissed him there. "All yours," he clarified in a husky voice.

Then, it was just a flash flood of lips and lips, hands on ribs and backs, and under t-shirts. He slanted his mouth over mine, brushing his tongue against me, over and over again. The hand I had on his hip, started to crawl under his t-shirt, smoothing over his hot skin and lean muscles as his hand cupped my breast over my shirt, his thumb grazing my nipple.

He rolled me onto my back, settling between my legs like he'd been there for years. He kept kissing me but it was when I felt him dropping his weight so that our hips pressed together, that I almost cried tears of joy. Edward was hot and hard against me. When he started rolling his hips, pressing what felt like a nice, long cock against me, it was only because his mouth was glued to mine that I didn't whimper out loud.

"You're so hot—fuck!" he hissed, rolling his hips so that the head of his cock pressed my clit through our thin clothing.

I knew that we needed to be quiet but when his tongue licked my neck before he started sucking softly, I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning like a total slut. But it didn't keep me from _not_ wrapping my legs around his hips and arching against him. My hands were roaming up and down his back, smoothing over the taut muscles that were flexing with his hips.

His thumb kept grazing my nipple, slow, steady circles that complimented the steady thrust of his hips and cock. Edward's mouth was so warm and his tongue so sensual, I couldn't think. That big, blunt head kept rubbing against me so fucking deliciously that I wished more than anything we weren't in my tiny bunk, surrounded by fifteen other people.

When I felt the start of my orgasm coming through the pit of my belly, I pressed my forehead to his shoulder as he kept thrusting his hips against my heat. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I'd probably soaked through my underwear and my sweats from turned on I was. But when I came, with white spots dotting my vision and a silenced cry to his neck, I wouldn't have cared if we were in the middle of the street doing it.

With a few more grinds against me, I felt his whole body tighten under my hands. He shuddered, cursing so quietly it sounded like mumbling. My limbs felt loose and way too happy as Edward's eyes met with mine and he gave me sly smile, kissing me slowly once more.

"I haven't done that since high school," I told him as he rolled off of me. And I was pretty sure that if dry humping had been that amazing back then, I wouldn't have given it up.

Edward blinked, stroking his fingertips across my face. "I don't remember it feeling that fucking good."

"Me neither," I whispered.

He sighed right before sucking on my bottom lip for a moment. "That was better than—," he looked at my eyes and paused, probably thinking better of whatever was originally going to come out of his mouth. "Everything." Edward gave me a goofy smile before slipping out of my bunk to change.

As I lay there, I smiled, totally blissed out. These next three weeks were going to be awesome. I just knew it.

* * *

><p><strong>The anxiety I go through when writing remotely sexual things is ridiculous. Who likes or has liked a good dry hump in the past? Don't lie to me :P xoxo -Mariana<strong>


	43. Chapter 43

_**Hai!**_** This is a short update because I wasn't planning on updating until I get this devil known as Soccerward done. You guys are absolutely amazing to me and I'm eternally grateful for your love. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight but Bandward and his awesomeness is all mine.**

* * *

><p><em>You get some of that oversized zucchini yet?<em>

I burst out laughing at Alice's question. I'd borrowed Jake's laptop to Skype with my bestest friend on the entire planet—not counting Edward. It'd been more than a month since the last time we'd talked and I had a lot to tell her in "person" that I didn't want her to know via email.

Specifically, my nightly grind sessions.

"Not yet," I grumbled, smiling. "It's hard enough when there's fifteen other people on the same floor."

Alice shook her head as she grinned. _You hussy._

"I never said I wasn't," I laughed.

_But you're finally staying in hostels?_

I waggled my eyebrows. We were traveling in a sprinter van now that we were in France and staying in hostels and cheap hotels. I was excited…to sleep in a real bed. _Right_. "Yes, we are."

_Good luck with that piece of vegetable! _She winked.

I snorted and gave her a thumbs up. "How are things going with Jasper?"

Alice batted her eyelashes before placing a hand over her heart. _Wonderful. He is so nice and sweet. Did you know he has been sending me postcards?_

"No way!"

She nodded. _Yes way. I have like twenty of them. When the tour's over, he's planning on coming to Seattle to see me._

I squealed. "What?"

_Who's the man?_ She laughed.

"Dang! You are!" I snorted, so excited for my friend. "That's great, Alamander!"

Alice smiled, just as pleased if not more than I was. _It is. _

I'd always thought that Alice's self-confidence was one of the greatest things about her. Alice didn't bother asking me if Jasper was behaving—which he was—and I thought that was awesome. That girl knew she was something special.

My brother started bellowing my name out from down the hall, so I sighed. "I need to get going. Emmett is screaming my name. I'll email you soon, okay?"

She nodded and blew me a kiss that I blew back before we each logged off Skype. I was putting the computer to sleep when I felt two large hands curve over my shoulders.

"Have fun talking to Alice?" Edward's voice was low as he spoke.

I looked up at him, grinning. "As always. I miss her."

He smiled back at me before bending over to plant an upside down kiss on my lips. "Your brother's looking for you. He has a splinter he can't reach, and he refuses to let anyone else try to get it out."

Of course. I laughed before pulling his face down to kiss him on his nose. "Dr. Smella is on her way."

"If your name was really Dr. Smella, I probably wouldn't let you be my primary physician," he chuckled, pulling away from me. "_But_ if you had your picture online, I'd probably become a hypochondriac."

Getting off the chair and slipping the laptop under my arm, I smiled at the guy in front of me who was too good looking for his own good. "Thank you? I think."

He slipped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me to him. "You're welcome, princess." Edward nuzzled his nose to my hair. "I'd even let you give me a rectal exam."

We both laughed so loud it echoed down the hallway.

"Let me go sign up for medical school right now," I told him, slapping his stomach with the back of my hand.

He dropped his arm and kissed my temple all sloppy, wet, and perfect as he laughed. "Where have you been all my life, Baby Ruth?"

"In Washington?" I offered with a stupid face.

Edward just shook his head, grinning before squeezing my wrist and linking our fingers together. "In that case, I'm glad you got out of there."

* * *

><p><strong>So...<strong>

**TGGT WAS NOMINATED FOR FIC OF THE WEEK OVER AT THE LEMONADE STAND! You guys have no idea how honored I am to be nominated. I hound that website for recs all the time. Mercyrus-I'm blowing you kisses, hugs, confetti, and unicorns. If there were more of you that rec'd it (and I don't know) thank you so, so much. I don't expect to win but it'd be great if you voted! I don't want to be the loser with only one vote (being mine lol) www(dot)tehlemonadestand(dot)net Voting ends tomorrow (Wednesday in the US) night I believe. **

**Okay, I'm done. xoxo-Mariana**


	44. Chapter 44

**Heyyy guys. Thank you to everyone who voted for me over at TLS and hi to all my new readers that have come to our party from there. As always, thank you for being the best readers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>It wasn't until we got to Zurich that we were able to stay in a hotel. The hostels we'd stayed in while the bands played Frankfurt and Stuttgart were fine, except I'd been stuck sharing a room with my brother, Riley, and Jake both nights. The first day I woke up, they'd written on my face with a marker. The second night, I made sure to sleep face down. Assholes.<p>

"I have my own room," Edward informed me when we were in the van heading to the hotel.

I raised my eyebrow at him, grinning. "Oh, really?"

He nodded, narrowing those gray-green eyes in my direction. "Come stay with me. I've missed your big butt up against me."

"Of course you have," I laughed, leaning into him. "I'll get James to share a room with me so I don't have to listen to Emmett singing about you and me sitting in a tree tomorrow morning."

Edward shook his head, smiling huge. "He told me earlier that if I knocked you up while on tour, we'd have to get married and name the baby after him."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Oh God."

He shrugged. "I'm okay with the terms." Edward kissed my cheek before lowering his voice. "Let's get started tonight," he teased. At least I think it was a tease.

"What?" I squeaked because the whole baby thing kind of scared the shit out of me. I loved kids, I just wasn't sure if I wanted them anytime soon for myself.

"I'm kidding," he smiled gently, reaching out to hold my hand and squeeze it. "At least about the kids. We have to figure out something when I have to leave again."

The reminder that _this_ between us was so new, that he lived in one state and I lived in another, was odd in my chest. I was so used to seeing him everyday, mainly all day, that I wasn't sure what we were going to do once the tour was over in a couple weeks. But I didn't want to bring it up right then. Edward saying that we'd have to figure out something gave me a sort of reassurance that he was willing to _have something_ to work on.

Bella-2, Ronalda-0

When we got to the hotel, I followed Edward to his room, flicking off my brother when he started moaning, "I'm going to be sick."

I hadn't gotten used to how much smaller everything seemed to be in Europe. The rooms were more compact, and even the shower stall was even more narrow than normal. But I wasn't going to complain as I dropped my backpack on the floor next to the double-sized bed.

"You want to shower first, princess?" Edward asked.

"You can go. You're faster than I am," I told him.

He nodded, digging through his backpack for his clothes and toiletries before slipping into the tiny bathroom. In less about five minutes, he was out and I thought I'd died. Wearing only a pair of his beloved black basketball shorts, it was a miracle I wasn't standing because I would've fallen over. Edward had some serious definition to his upper body, planes and crevices of muscles over his lean build that made me drool in approval.

And the bastard knew it because he just smirked at me.

"Shut up," I mumbled as I slipped past him, only to reach back and pinch his butt cheek with a laugh before closing the door. I could hear him laughing from the other side while I showered quickly.

Once I finished getting dressed, I opened the door to find him sprawled on top of the bed—still shirtless—and flipping through the channels on the small box television. I smiled before going to sit down next to him. He looked over at me before reaching out to place his hand on my thigh, rubbing up and down the length of it.

I took the time to count the solid bands of ink that striped up his arm. There were thirteen of them total, starting at his wrist and going up to shoulder in perfect spacing. "Was there a reason for your tattoos?" I asked him, knowing he was still watching me.

Edward took my hand with his free one, and placed it on his forearm. "Each band is a reminder of the number of labels that told us no before we got a yes," he answered. "I like remembering that no matter how successful I might be now or in the future, it wasn't an easy journey." He paused for a moment. "Is that cheesy?"

"No," I snorted, because it wasn't. At all. This was my pretty humble guy who didn't act or look in the way I'd always expected him to. "I think it's neat." I slid my fingertip around the band covering his elbow. "And the one on your chest?"

He looked down at the thick swirl of black on his pectoral. "I just thought it looked good," he laughed.

I shook my head, snorting. "You're an idiot." I poked his taut stomach. "You have anymore?"

"One," he said in a flat voice.

"Where?" I asked him suspiciously.

Pale green eyes blinked. "On my ass."

"No way!"

"Yes way."

A second later, I was trying to roll him over to look at his ass cheek but he grabbed onto my wrists to keep me from doing it. "Let me see it," I begged.

"No."

"C'mon."

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"It's the first tattoo I ever got," he admitted smiling.

I smirked at him, reveling in the fact that he was still holding my wrists. "It can't be that bad." When he didn't say anything in response, I got a little scared. "Seriously. What is it? As long as it isn't Hello Kitty, then it can't be that bad."

Edward looked at me for what felt like a long time. "It's of my dog."

"Shut up."

"It is," he snorted the answer out, smiling too wide for me to take him seriously.

I tried pulling my hands out of his hold but I couldn't. "You're a fucking liar," I laughed.

He pulled me down to him, kissing my throat softly. "Okay you can see," he murmured against me. A moment later, he was flipping over onto his hands and knees, and I was pulling down his shorts and boxer briefs on one side. There was nothing there. I pulled down the other side, and there was nothing there either.

"Liar!" I laughed at the same time I slapped him as hard as I could on his ass.

With a yelp, Edward was turning over to wrap and arm around my waist and pull me onto the bed. His long body stretched over mine, pelvis to pelvis, and he was shaking his head. "Oh Bella, Bella. You want to play the spanking game?"

* * *

><p><strong>Regarding the "Soccerward" I've been going on about for weeks now. He's done! I'm participating in a compilation called Fandoms 4 Special Olympics. It's a great and honorable cause, and I'm very excited to be donating my version of Edward Cullen to it. If you're interested in donating and receiving "A Smokeless Fire" along with a bunch of other stories (two of which I'm VERY excited to read) then head on over to http :  fandoms4specialolympics(dot)blogspot(dot)com Soccerward is about 12,000 words long (if you're wondering)**

**On one last note regarding fandoms4SO, if I have ten readers who donate to it, then I will gladly write a Bella POV of it for those who contribute. Send me a copy of your receipt so I can keep track. Send it to my email: marianazapata (a) live(dot)com**

**Here's a teaser for him (and there are/will be more on my twitter account: twitter(dot)com/marianazapata_ and my blog: marianazapata(dot)com):**

I moaned, trying to take as much of her tit into my mouth as I could while I slipped my hand into the back of her shorts to grip those tight cheeks, skin to skin. My fingers trailed down and over the cleft of her ass, lightly brushing over her puckered hole before getting where I wanted. The smooth lips of her pussy were soaking wet as I lightly touched them, earning another soft cry from her mouth.

"Tell me what you want, baby," I told her. "You want me to finger fuck you? You're so wet for me, I know you want it."

***coughs* Okay. Thanks, guys! xoxo -Mariana**


	45. Chapter 45

**Ladies, you're great to me. We hit 1,300 reviews after I wrote this chapter so I'll owe you another Merch Girl next time. Thank you all for being great. I love your love and enthusiasm for TGGT. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but you know this. The rest of this is mine.**

* * *

><p>Edward got one good spank in.<p>

One.

I don't know what I'd been thinking hitting him. This was Edward. I should've known he was going to retaliate somehow. And he did. In the blink of an eye, he'd flipped me onto my stomach and smacked my ass so hard I was sure I'd have a bruise the next day.

But the special thing about my relationship with this guy, the thing that made us and what we were _different_ was that we were both laughing our asses off.

Not in a million years could I have ever imagined getting spanked by another person being both funny and somehow turning me on an incredible amount. But I could blame the latter on the fact that I'd seen his tight and cute butt cheeks right before. My Fancy was something special. If there was a fraction of a doubt in my brain that I was crazy for this guy, that I felt a connection with him that trumped any other relationship I'd had in the past by leagues in the sea—it was smashed.

"You bitch!" I screeched against the bed cover, bucking my hips up.

Heavy weight fell over me, his chest pressed against my back, and I could feel his lips on my neck. "Princess," he was laughing and panting.

"That hurt!"

He laughed harder, kissing me over and over again. "Baby," he murmured. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not."

I laughed even louder, but when I felt his palm smooth from my side over my lower back and inch down to cup my aching ass, I sucked in a rabid breath. That large palm rubbed over me, kneading the flesh gently. What did I do? I arched my freaking back.

His free hand was pushing up the back of my shirt, up, up, up until all the material bunched over the tops of my breasts and the middle of my back. "You're so smooth," he said in a husky voice right before I felt hot, wet lips dragging down my spine. "God, Bella," he groaned as I arched back into him even more.

"Hmm?" I mumbled incoherently, relishing in the feel of his lips and warm skin on mine.

But then I felt something infinitely times warmer than his mouth and way more wet at the small of my back. He licked me. Oh my mother fucking lord, Edward—the most gorgeous man in every universe—was licking at me. When I arched my back high in the air, both of his hands slipped around my waist. His fingers were on the button of my jeans, then pulling down my zipper erotically slow.

It wasn't until I felt his mouth on my shoulder and his fingers dipping inside the front of my panties that I thought the earth shattered into a million fragments. "Edward," the name was hissed from my lips.

He moaned my name back, those long, lightly callused fingertips brushing over my lips and clit, not stopping until he swept across me twice. "Fuck," he hummed into my ear. A single finger dipped into me at the same time he used his other hand to pull my back against his upright chest. The position gave him access to my neck, where he started sucking lightly.

I cried out when he slipped another finger in me, fingering me so slowly I couldn't breath from the sweet anticipation. What the hell my hands were doing, I really have no clue. I think they'd landed on his thighs, squeezing them tightly. "That's so good."

"Bella," he hummed, nipping me lightly on the slope between my neck and shoulder. "I want you so fucking bad."

The rocking of my hips against the twisting and scissoring of his fingers should have been enough of an answer to his plead, but I turned my mouth to kiss him long, deep and slow. It was only when I pulled away from his lips that I nodded. "Please."

Edward was yanking my shorts and underwear down my legs a second later, giving me a light slap where his hand had been last. Moist lips kissed one cheek and then the other before I rolled over onto my ass. His mouth covered mine again, kissing me slowly, sucking one lip and then the other into his mouth while his hands fiddled with the bunched material of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head.

His eyes flickered down when he'd pulled away, earning me a groan of what I hoped was approval. While I didn't have the biggest boobs in the universe, I liked them enough. Edward pushed me onto my back gently, dragging his open mouth and lips down my chin, over my jaw, neck, collarbones, before settling over my right nipple. It wasn't my imagination when I felt him shudder over me.

I was pulling his shorts and boxer briefs down his hips with my hands and then my feet when I couldn't reach anymore. My fingers roamed their way up and down his smooth back from shoulder to ass. Legs opened wider around his naked hips. The more skin I saw—both that smooth, lightly tanned skin and the one painted in black strokes of ink—the more I couldn't understand how lucky I was.

"I want you to sit on my face," he groaned, lapping against my nipple. "But I can't wait to fuck you, sweetheart." The heavy, hot feel of his cock brushed against my inner thigh as he rolled his hips. "Can I?"

The yes exploded off my tongue in a rush.

Edward pulled back. His heavy, beautiful green eyes were hooded with lust and something else I couldn't decipher. He slanted his mouth against mine before pulling back to press our foreheads together. One finger brushed over my breast while his other one stroked across my jaw. "Bella."

I closed my eyes because it all seemed like too much. The way he felt over me, the way his eyes made me feel like I wasn't my own owner. But I felt like a coward doing it, so I opened them again.

He smiled at me gently before reaching over me and into the dresser behind my head. "You're beautiful," he said softly, kissing me over my heart.

Catching sight of the black and gold wrapper in his hand, I glanced back up at his face. "You're perfect," I told him.

Edward kissed me, pulling away to look down. I could see his hands shaking as he tore open the condom and sat up on his knees. I don't know how I didn't say something like_ shit_ or _oh my God._ In the times we'd spent in my bunk bed before, everything we ever did was over clothes. I'd never put my hands on him. So when I glanced down his naked, hard chest and the rippling muscles of his abs to see his thick, long cock hard and proud in the air, I sucked in a breath.

He rolled the condom over the broad, blunt head of his dick and over the thickening shaft that stretched wider over the base. Edward wrapped his hands over my hips to pull me toward him once he was fully sheathed. His dick slipped up and down my pussy, the tip rubbing over my clit so good I whimpered.

One more kiss and he was dropping to his elbows, caging me in between his biceps. Another soft, gentle kiss and he was adjusting himself to press his smooth head in me. Slowly, he pushed in. I spread and stretched around his big dick, inch by inch until he was buried to the hilt. The short, brown hairs of his base were pressed to my smooth lips.

Edward let out a noise that sounded strangled, but I pressed my forehead against his shoulder, trying to make it through how full he made me feel. After a minute or five, he pulled out of me slowly before pushing back in at the same languid pace. Then again. And again. Slow, slow, slow, he worked those hips and dick deep in me. "Bella, I'm not going to last that long," he whispered, kissing the corner of my mouth.

"That's okay."

"You feel so fucking good, baby. I'm sorry," he panted, giving me a sharp thrust upward.

I cried out.

"Everyday. I want you everyday," he groaned. "You're the best thing in the world." He was flipping us over after that, never pulling out of me or losing contact with our mouths as we rolled. "Ride me," he begged. "I want you to come."

I smiled at him, blissed out and feeling more amazing than any human being should be capable of. But I slid up and down his long cock slowly. It seemed like less than a minute later, I was sweating and riding him faster. "Oh my God."

His hips pumped into me, in time with my own up and down movement, and I was coming so hard, I could feel my pussy quivering around him. I'd barely come out of my orgasm, still seeing spots in my eyes, when he pushed into me even faster, panting into my neck. Edward went tense all over, pressing his lips against my chest with a muffled, "Fuck!" He came, riding out his orgasm in me.

In the minutes after he'd come down, threw away the condom and crawled into the bed with me, I felt like I was living in a dream. Edward was pulling me to him, pushing my hair out of my face and grinning from ear to ear—a smile that put every other one to shame.

"What's that look for?" I asked him, running my hand over his tattooed arm.

His smile turned dopey and sweet. "You make me so fucking happy, princess."

* * *

><p><strong>This guy.<strong>

**Regarding my last a/n about "A Smokeless Fire" (aka Soccerward) you have until June 15th to donate. For less than the price of buying a fast food meal, you can both donate to a great cause and get some really great stories from contributing authors. PLUS! A Bella POV! I've only had a couple of readers send me their receipts (by the way, you guys rock!) so the rest of you get on it. The faster we hit ten, the faster I can start writing the other part. Yes? **

**Visit: fandoms4specialolympics(dot)blogspot(dot)com**

**xo-Mariana**


	46. Chapter 46

**You dirty bitches (I say that with love)! Your reactions last chapter had me snorting and on the verge of pissing my pants from how hard I laughed. Thank you, guys! After this chapter, we have two left before the epilogue. Let me just say it's been a huge pleasure being a part of this. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

* * *

><p>"You're dumb."<p>

Edward scoffed, slipping his hands over my feet to set them into his lap. We were sitting on his bed playing Uno in Berlin. Earlier that day, we'd walked around with Felix and James, then they played the show, and exhaustion finally hit. Almost three months of nonstop touring was finally taking its toll on all of us.

Emmett and Jake had been sick for the past week. Riley looked like he'd gotten into a fight with a chupacabra and lost. Poor James looked thinner and paler than normal. Our bodies weren't made to be on the move so much but our hearts were.

I think the only thing that kept me going was my Fancy.

And his dick.

Ever since that night in Zurich, we turned into horny teenagers. No bathroom, dark alley, or hotel room was spared. He'd pulled up my dresses in empty hallways, thrown my leg over his shoulder, and fused his mouth to my pussy more times than I could count. It was fucking fantastical. Magical. A wet dream come true.

My heart was no match for this guy.

"It's not my fault that I know how to play the game," I laughed.

He flicked me on the forehead. "There's no strategy to the game, you're just getting lucky."

Taking a card from the deck, I threw it at his face. "There is a strategy. You can't keep putting down all your Draw Fours and Draw Twos when you get them, duh. You need to wait until you only have a few cards left, and then make me eat shit."

"That doesn't make any sense," he frowned, poking me in the side before putting down a blue four. "It's the same thing."

I groaned and put down a blue skip. "Says the man who hasn't beat me once."

Edward laughed. "I can beat you at plenty of other things."

Which was the truth but I shrugged, smiling. "Maybe but not Uno, Fancy."

Four moves later, I'd won again. He grabbed the messy pile of cards and threw them up in the air with a snort. "That's what I think about you winning."

"You suck."

He fell back onto the bed, pulling me down alongside him. "You suck way better than I do," he murmured, kissing my neck.

I shivered, tilting my head up so he could get a better angle for more skin. "True."

Edward snickered, dragging his hot tongue over the shell of my ear. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

His hand stroked down my arm slowly. "We only have a week left," he said in a soft voice, reminding me that our time together was coming to an end.

I moved my head to kiss his jaw. "I know."

"What are we going to do?"

Gray-green eyes met mine, something like worry or sadness filled in the edges of his lashes. I'd been meaning to ask him about it, but I was a chicken. In that moment, I regretted that I hadn't brought t up earlier. "Make it work?" I offered him.

He threw his head back and laughed. "No shit." Fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling my hand to his chest. "This has to work."

"Oh yeah?"

Edward nodded, still smiling. "Yeah, Baby Ruth. It does."

I kissed his cheek, slinking one leg between his. "I know." I kissed his cheek again. "Who else is going keep you entertained if you don't have me?"

After a brief pause with no answer, we looked at each other and laughed. "Felix?"

He kissed my nose while his chest vibrated with uncontrolled laughter at our repetition. "I love you."

The admission was crushing my heart, flattening it out and ruining it for the rest of my existence. "I know."

"You do?" he asked me softly.

"Yep." I pulled away from him to get a better glimpse at the smooth texture of the skin on his face and the long, dark lashes that framed his odd colored eyes. "I love you. So much."

His smile was the size of Jupiter and brighter than the sun. "I—," he stuttered, flushing. "I—"

"You can get it out," I teased him.

Edward smirked. "How much?"

"How much what?"

I rolled my eyes. "I just said _so much_. A lot. Too much." I hummed in my throat. "Why?"

"Because if you don't love me very much, I have a lot more work to do until you do," he stated.

That was suspicious. "_Why?"_

"Because I don't think I'm going to like being away from you when the tour is over." He tugged on my earlobe, wrapping his arm around my waist to hoist me on top of him. He was hard already, pressing against the thin material of his boxer briefs.

"I don't think I'm going to either," I admitted to him, trying so hard not to rock oer his thick erection but failing miserably. "But you don't have to tour again for at least a few months after this, right?"

He nodded against me. His fingers slipped underneath the hem of my shirt. "No. We're just writing until we're ready for the next album."

"We'll figure it out," I said, letting him peel off my shirt. His thumbs brushed over my nipples slowly. Looking away from the movement of his fingers, I smiled at him. "We have to."

* * *

><p><strong>The Merch Girl is up :) xo-Mariana<strong>


	47. Chapter 47

**Per request, I'm prolonging the inevitable :) You guys are the best.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but Fancy Pants is mine.**

* * *

><p>"12 men?" the translator slash van driver confirmed with Felix our group number before relaying the information to the receptionist working at the front desk of the hotel in Muenster.<p>

I shot a side-glance over to my brother, who was standing next to me. "Pretty sure I'm not a man," I whispered.

Emmett snickered, throwing an elbow out to catch me on my lowest rib. "Notice how no one bothered to correct him?"

"Jerk."

"I'm just speaking the truth, Smella. You're pretty much a dude." He laughed. "Except Edward thinks you're pretty, and you do have nice hair."

"And you're pretty much an idiot." I elbowed him back. "Douche bag. But thanks for telling me you like my hair."

Emmeline just laughed louder, throwing a sweaty arm over the top of my shoulder as we followed Christof, our translator extraordinaire, down the hallway that led up to our rooms. "Want to go eat at that little restaurant we passed on the walk over here?"

I nodded at him, pausing at a door that Christof explained would be my room. Sure enough, he kept moving down the hall but Edward stayed with me. "Princess."

"Fancy," I grinned at him, pushing the door open to step inside.

He followed in after me, dropping his bag right by the door. "I missed you today."

"Me too," I said, dropping my bag alongside his and wrapping my arms around his chest. He'd been busy all day. There'd been two interviews with German magazines, a television interview, and then rehearsals with bad PA equipment that made them take longer than usual to get ready. We'd only seen each other when we woke up and had breakfast, and then in passing during the day. I'd spent the afternoon at the Prinzipalmarkt and the Pablo Picasso museum with James before we headed back to set up merch.

How the hell was I supposed to cope with not being around him in a few days? Being separated by more than doors and fans, but rather by thousands of miles and mountains? It made my heart hurt thinking about it.

"I'm really tired," he murmured, kissing my nose. "My throat is starting to hurt, too."

I winced. "I was going to eat with Em, do you want me to bring you something back?"

Edward nodded, sighing. "Please. Just food. I'm just going to shower and lay down—"

"Naked?" I asked him, waggling my eyebrows.

He laughed. "For you, anything."

Planting another kiss on his lips that lingered decades, I dropped another one on his throat and started backing away toward the door. "Call Em if you need me, okay?"

"I will," he scoffed. "Cheap ass."

Still on my case about refusing to turn on my cell phone so that I could avoid roaming charges, I shrugged and walked out of the room. Emmett was standing down the hall with his hands buried into the pockets of his loose shorts. He waved me over before we made our way out of the hotel and toward an open restaurant.

"You all right?" I asked.

He nodded slowly, the growing curls on his head swaying with his movement. "I still feel like shit, but I want to go home already."

"Seattle?" I didn't think Em really considered Forks home anymore, but I wanted to make sure of what he meant.

"Yeah, but I still want to go see Mom and Dad." Opening the door before me, he narrowed his eyes. "Did you figure out what you're doing yet when we get back?"

I groaned. "No."

"No idea?" It's like he didn't believe me. I usually had a plan for everything. Except the rest of my life after four days from now.

"Not a single one," I sighed.

"What about Edward?" His question was low and cautious.

Em and I hadn't really _talked_ about the situation with Edward very much. It was weird, at least with my brother. He knew how I felt about him, using that special sixth sense, and he'd been the first one to tell me that Edward felt the same way back but still. I knew Edward's intentions were pure and honest. That didn't mean the future still wasn't scary and full of variables.

"He's going to visit a week after we get home."

Emmeline raised an eyebrow. "Huh."

"What?"

He shrugged to slowly. "That's… soon."

"And?"

"It's good," he sighed, smiling just a little. "It makes me happy, Smella. That kid thinks you're the greatest thing on the planet, and I'm glad he does." When my eyes started to get watery, he yanked on the end of my ponytail really hard. "No crying allowed. "

"You. Love. Me."

He groaned and looked away. "Yeah, I do, estupid. That's my nice deed of the year."

I laughed before squeezing both of my arms around his bicep. "Thanks, Em. I'm glad you invited me to come with you on tour."

Emmett shot me a sick glance before opening his mouth and sticking his finger part of the way inside. "Trust me. We all know how thankful you are that you came on tour, you dirty whore."

He wasn't surprised when I punched him in the stomach.

"Well, you two lovebirds can figure it out. I won't be touring for a while, but you're more than welcome to go out with us again when the next one is confirmed," he said.

I nodded at him, grateful for his offer but not sure if I'd want to go on tour again so soon. Plus, if Edward was gone and I was gone, we'd never get to see each other. Something deep in the pit of my stomach told me this long distance crap was going to be hard.

But all the best things in life weren't exactly supposed to be easy either, right?

* * *

><p><strong>As some of you know, FFN has been deleting A LOT of stories recently. In case this happens to me, head on back to my profile for a link to my blog (which is where I will start posting if that's the case) www(dot)marianazapata(dot)com OR stalk my twitter (a)marianazapata_ OR you can visit my brand new facebook page www(dot)facebook(dot)commarianazapatawrites **

**Jesus Christ. I'm not going to write my name out for a week now. xoxo -mar... MZ**


	48. Chapter 48

**I'm so sad to be posting this. It's the final chapter (not counting the epilogue) for TGGT. *hands everyone a tissue* Thank you guys for being so good to me. I'll get teary tomorrow.**

**On another note, a lot of you asked why FFN is deleting stories. A few of the ones that have been deleted were because their summaries weren't rated K, other stories because they're NC-17 or MA instead of "M." Then there's also rumors that there's a group of people who are submitting stories because... they're assholes? I don't know for sure. That's just what I've heard from others. Meh.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but Fancy and Invisi-balls are mine.**

* * *

><p>"Why do you look like you just found out that guy from NSYNC was gay again?" Riley asked me in a loud whisper. The Golden Giants was onstage going through one of my favorite songs. Ri, Emmett, and Jake were all wandering around the floor, talking to fans in Antwerp.<p>

I rolled my eyes at him, remembering that he had—in fact—been around when I found out my longtime NSYNC crush, Lance Bass, was _not_ into women. It was kind of crushing. Just a little. "I'm sad the tour is over."

He gave me a knowing smile before shrugging. "It was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

I nodded.

Riley gave me a goofy look. "You got to tour with the most attractive men in Prog—"

"I think that's kind of stretching it."

He frowned. "Got to see the world. See a kangaroo in person—"

"Saw you get kicked by that same kangaroo—"

"Watched your brother hit on that transgender guy—"

I made a face at him. "I'm pretty sure that was you."

Riley didn't even bother confirming or denying my statement. "Went to a bunch of boring museums—"

I groaned. Ri considered anything that didn't involve drinking of some sort boring.

"And you met your little snuggle bug," he cooed with fluttering eyelashes like an idiot.

I relaxed my facial expression to look at him with boredom. "You forgot something."

"James ripping his pants when we were in Stockholm?"

"Nope."

"Felix and Jake getting blow jobs from the same girl an hour apart?"

I gagged remembering that little ditty. They'd both been grossed out. More so Felix than Jake because he'd been number two but… yeah. Disgusting. "No."

Riley narrowed his eyes. "What then?"

"Me punching you in the nuts for the first time," I told him while simultaneously swinging my fist in the general direction of his balls.

He jumped a foot back with a laugh. "Jesus! I'm glad I called the wedding off, you psychopath." He laughed again, but I couldn't hear him with the music being so loud in the background.

There were only a couple of songs left. After three months of being on tour, listening to the bands night after night, I could probably sing to all of their songs and play all of the instruments from memory. And I didn't even know how to play any instrument very well. Or at all, whatever.

My heart hurt a little knowing that this was the last time that I'd get to see them play for God knows how long. It seemed a little bittersweet that I'd agreed to come along reluctantly at first. Only hoping to get away from crap back home. Now I was sad that the experience was coming to a close. Who would've known?

"We only have a few songs left, Antwerp! Before it gets fast and heavy, we'd like to thank all of you for coming out tonight on our tour closer! It's been an insane three months with our friends in The Red Mile, who have stuck it out with us. Thank you to those guys, to our merch guy, James in the back, and especially," he put his hand over his heart, smiling a tiny playful grin, "to my beautiful girl, the greatest thing since the invention of air conditioning, My Bella." The people in the audience started whistling and yelling out things I didn't understand. "Are you guys fucking ready?"

_Yes!_

Edward pointed out into the audience before jumping up high, off of a speaker, at the same time the cymbals on the drum set crashed and they started their second to last song.

Me.

Me.

I was the greatest thing since air conditioning, and who didn't love air conditioning?

When I looked over at Riley with what I'm sure was the dumbest, goofiest smile to ever exist, he grimaced, which only made me smile more.

There was nothing, and I mean nothing, that I'd let stand between me and Fancy. In that moment, I decided that. There would only ever be him. He was the end to my beginning.

An hour later, when we were standing around outside while the guys finished signing autographs and posing for pictures drenched in sweat and smelling like dirty socks, I was just taking it in. Edward walked over to me after ending a conversation with a couple of fans and smiled. The bastard knew I had the swoons for him and his words. And he was still wearing his stage clothes.

"I love air conditioning," I told him, threading my fingers through his when he saddled up next to me.

He nodded, smiling that same grin that I'm sure I cheesed when he'd spoken to the audience earlier. "Me too, princess. Me too."

In twenty-four hours, we were going to be separated by thousands of miles. But distance was insignificant when you loved someone the way I loved Edward. Like air conditioning. And Baby Ruth bars.


	49. Epilogue

**AND! The epilogue. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but Fancy Pants, Smella, and Emmeline are mine.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Hiiii<em>," I cooed into the camera of my laptop.

"Hi Princess." The screen in front of me blurred while I figured Edward moved around his hotel room. A second later, the camera was able to focus on the handsome man on the screen. He looked… terrible. His pale eyes were dull and there were bags under his eyes.

"You look like shit," I said, taking in the sickly, ashen shade of his skin. It was a telltale sign that the diabetes was kicking his ass today.

Edward smiled weakly, chuckling. "Well then, happy anniversary to you, beautiful."

I squeaked, temporarily forgetting about how sick he looked. "Happy anniversary!"

"I'm sorry I can't be there," he murmured, running a hand through his growing hair. The last time I'd seen him—two and a half weeks ago—it'd been at its usual short buzz cut length. But recently, he'd been getting a lot lazier about shaving it meticulously. I liked it. Then again, I'd probably still think he was beautiful if he had a mullet—the true sign of a perfect specimen.

I shrugged, smiling at him through the camera. "It's okay. Rosalie brought me my present," I told him in a sing song voice, with a wiggle to my eyebrows, holding up the cool bracelet he'd sent me from Indonesia. "I love it."

Edward leaned forward to rest his chin on his hand, still looking a little dazed but happy. The plain gold band on his ring finger winked at me, reminding me that exactly a year ago, we'd decided at the last minute to go get hitched. We didn't even have real rings when we did it. It was just us and two random people at the courthouse, who served as our witnesses, and two ugly ass rings we each happened to own.

We'd made it exactly two months living in different states before he said that the distance was definitely not going to work. In sixty days, he visited me three times, and I went to see him in Chicago once, before realizing that we didn't want to be so far away from each other. We couldn't be so far away from each other.

A game of Skype paper-rock-scissors decided that I'd be the one moving.

And I did.

"I thought of you when I saw it." He somehow managed to wink at me despite the fact that I knew he felt awful. "I have another one."

"Another present?"

He nodded.

I made an _oohing_ noise. "Show me."

His beautiful face softened as he grinned wickedly, unbuttoning the first few snaps on his flannel shirt. A moment later, he was peeling one side over, giving me a perfect view of his smooth chest—

"You got my name tattooed?" I yelled it, leaning forward in my chair to get a better look at the pretty, loopy lettering on my screen. Because that definitely worked.

"No, I got the other love of my life's name tattooed," he laughed.

"Fancy," I sighed. The trance I was in was so powerful I couldn't think of a comeback to his dumbass response. My eyes were glued to the fact that my name was permanently tattooed onto his skin. There was a little turtle dove at the end of the 'a' and I suddenly had the urge to cry. "I miss you," the statement came out like a sad moan.

Edward's smirk was a wasteful one. "You have no idea how much I miss you too, but I'll be home next week." He sighed.

"Naked?"

He laughed. "Definitely—"

"Hi Edward!" Emmett's booming deep voice called out from over my shoulder.

I turned around to roll my eyes at my brother. He'd been staying with me for the last week, but he spent more time with Edward's sister than he did with his supposed favorite sister. Right after we'd gotten home from The Golden Giants Tour, he'd committed himself to not going to so long without seeing me. True to his word, Em went out of his way to see me even after I moved halfway around the country.

"Hey Em," Edward called out with a wave.

"Me and Bella ate your frozen churros last night," my brother offered him, despite the fact that we'd said we wouldn't tell Edward we'd eaten his favorite snack unless he asked. The bastard.

He gasped. "You ate my churros?"

I nodded at him slowly, gravely. "We ate your churros."

"You're lucky I love you," he grinned. He loved his churros, but he loved me more.

"I know, Fancy." I smiled back at him, completely forgetting about Emmett standing behind me.

"I'm gonna go puke now. Take care, man. I'll take care of your old hag until you get home!" Emmett yelled before throwing something at the back of my head and leaving the room.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Remind me why I went into business with him."

"Because you love him?" Edward asked me with a raised eyebrow, like it was difficult for him to remember why I did it too.

A couple months after I'd moved in with him, I still hadn't been able to find a job. Edward had offered to take me on tour with him as their merch girl, but I loved James. He cemented himself as one of my closest—and only—friends after my move, and I knew he loved touring. There was no way I was going to screw him over like that. After mentioning it to Emmeline one night over the phone, he asked me why I didn't just sell merch online.

An idea, and a small loan from my brother because I refused to take money from Edward, started The Merch Girl. It was an online website where I sold GG, The Red Mile, and—as months and connections from my two favorite men rolled in—fifteen other band's merch. The ultimate bonus was being my own boss, so I could visit Edward on tour whenever I wanted.

We'd agreed when he left for the first time after my move, that we wouldn't go more than a month without seeing each other.

It was long enough so that our reunions were the hottest thing in the universe and not so long that we both turned into those lovesick morons that made us roll our eyes.

Love, at least our version of love, was little things. Intangible things. It was laughs and our two turtles named Frank and Zappa. It was playing soccer at the park by our apartment, and it was our Skype video chats when we were in different continents. It was compromises and separation from each other, and in my case, from my parents and Alice.

But for him, it was nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for your AMAZING love and support throughout TGGT. I write for you. <strong>

**To my beloved K, thank you for always harassing me for things I wouldn't normally do (ha), being my guiding light through my bouts of insanity, and being a great friend.**

**To my "golden bear" Gina, and my Twitter friends, I love you guys and your shouty caps, crying, and threats. **

**Gah, there's too many of you who have reviewed every chapter or damn near every chapter, and made me laugh hysterically. Seriously. This is for you guys. I love and appreciate all of you very much.**

**For those continuing on in my crazy parade, I'll see you with my other works in progress. I'm probably going to be starting another story, I don't know how soon (P.S. I'm looking for a nurse to answer questions for it, if you're interested- please let me know!)**

**AND! Remember if you're planning on donating to Fandoms for Special Olympics, you have until June 15th to donate and send me your receipt (marianazapata live(dot)com) to get your 12,000 word Soccerward AND the Bella POV. *raises the roof***

**THANK YOU TIMES A BILLION!**

**xoxo, Mariana**

**twitter: marianazapata_**

**blog: marianazapata(dot)com**

**facebook: facebook(dot)com/marianazapatawrites**

**Edit: Will there be outtakes? I'm not planning on writing a sequel BUT I might do a few more chapters for "The Merch Girl." So keep an eye out on that if you're interested :)  
><strong>


End file.
